We also speak with Courtney Taylor-Taylor, leader of Portland’s own The Dandy Warhols. After working in the business for over 20 years, Taylor and the band returned last month with their eighth studio effort, This Machine. Both Comaratta and Taylor-Taylor discussed the new album, writing songs amongst the band, meeting Andrew Eldridge, and singing onstage with Love and Rockets and the thin white duke himself, David Bowie, a performance thought never captured. Well, we have it.

Featured Music:
01. Ty Segall & White Fence – “Cry Baby“ (excerpt), “Easy Rider“(excerpt)
02. Fixers – “Uriel“ (excerpt), “Passages/Love In Action/108 “(excerpt)
03. Father John Misty – “Fun Times In Babylon“ (excerpt), “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings“ (excerpt)
04. Dandy Warhols – “The Autumn Carnival” (This Machine)
05. Love & Rockets – “No New Tale To Tell” (excerpt)
06. Bauhaus – “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” (excerpt)
07. Sisters of Mercy – “This Corrosion” (excerpt)
08. David Bowie & Dandy Warhols – “White Light, White Heat (live)”
09. Dandy Warhols – “Sad Vacation” (This Machine)
10. Dandy Warhols – “We Used To Be Friends” (Welcome to the Monkey House)

Audiography Episode 036 – “Courtney Taylor-Taylor (of The Dandy Warhols)”
Written and Produced by Len Comaratta, Alex Young, Michael Roffman, Liz Lane, Adam Kivel, Chris Coplan, Bryant Kitching, and David DiLillo.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Are you enjoying Audiography? Subscribe to the Podcast via iTunes!

Zia McCabe, keyboardist and sometimes bass player for The Dandy Warhols, wrote to us from backstage in Ireland with a list of songs that the band favor at this moment — which is a big one with This Machine, their first album in three years, dropping today. Be sure to read our interview with lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor and fall into the band’s curated playlist on Spotify.  

The Dandy Warhols

Spindrift — “Indian Run”
I’ve heard I play bass like Henry their bass player. Matilda, my daughter played shakers on this song with them in Austin and at the Red Rocks Festival

Grinderman — “Bell Ringer Blues” (Nick Zinner remix)
We got to see Grinderman in Tromso, Norway last summer and Peter [Holmström] has been obsessing on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs lately.

Soft Moon — “Parallels”
Gothic dance music!!!

The Clientele — “We Could Walk Together”
This song is off the only album that Brent has listened to for the last 6 months.

The Cramps – “Goo Goo Muck”
Well, we just covered this cool song so…….

Cults — “Most Wanted”
I love 60′s girl groups. These guys do a modern updated version.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero” (Animal Collective Remix)
A very cool take on a band Peter has been obsessing on.

Lykke Li — “Possibility”
I  just love this song so much. I listened to it so many times this past year. I think there is a vocal interval in this tune that’s similar to what I sang in “Don’t Shoot, She Cried” [off the new album This Machine]. Really pretty.

The Clash — “Straight to Hell”
Killer tune and anyone that complains about M.I.A. turning the intro (the best part of the song) into an entire song, is silly because that was a great idea!

Fujiya & Miyagi — “Cassettesingle”
Been listening to a lot of these guys lately, they are too big too open for us so we got their recent opener AKDK instead. (AKDK isn’t on Spotify yet but check them out some other way)

Produced by the band and Jeremy Sherrer, This Machine was pitched as “stripped-down and extremely guitar-centric,” even described as “woody” by frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Featuring 11 tracks that cover a somewhat broad palette, This Machine is the first Dandy Warhols album to feature songs written entirely by band members other than Taylor-Taylor. As a result, it can come across as uneven, more a collection of songs rather than a fluid album. However, as with most things Dandy, the surface is just that, and it’s what lies beneath that often provides the continuity.

Described by friends of the band as perhaps the group’s gothiest record, Taylor-Taylor considers This Machine the band’s grungiest. With that in mind, however, This Machine does not revel in orchestral chamber music echoed with haunting chorales, nor does it steep itself in minor chord, guitar-centric, sludgy dirges. The goth and the grunge, much like many of the band’s influences, are woven into the very fabric of the album and its songs, to provide a depth and a texture that goes beyond the stereotypical.

The album opens with “Sad Vacation” and a sludgy, aggressive bass attack, cousin to early Black Flag intros, that may be the most stereotypical grunge-like moment of the album. Credited to both drummer Brent DeBoer and Taylor-Taylor, “Sad Vacation” was written by DeBoer, but keyboardist Zia McCabe had Taylor-Taylor fix the song’s lyrics to strengthen the emotional content of it, moving it from bitter to defiant. DeBoer also wrote the album closer “Slide”, and cowrote with McCabe the penultimate number, “ Don’t Shoot She Cried”, where the album’s Northwest flavor truly comes to life, blended with echoing chorale-like vocals.

“Well They’re Gone”, the album’s first single, is a mellow number that echoes the Real Tuesday Weld’s vocal delivery in a way that would make one think Stephen Coates’ Clerkenwell Kid and Courtney Taylor-Taylor were two sides of the same coin. “The Autumn Carnival”, co-written by David J. of Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, also shares this delicate vocal delivery. Featuring a guitar line throughout that suggests a mashing of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are”, it was this song and not the far more gothic tinged “Don’t Shoot She Cried” that likely inspired the “goth” comments.

The fuzz-laden, feedback driven, chaos-infused pop of songs like “Every Day Is A Holiday” are found alongside tracks like “SETI vs the Wow! Signal”, but most of this album’s candy comes in a harder shell. “Alternative Power to the People” is an aggressive, pseudo-instrumental, with vocals more like oddly distorted grunts. “Enjoy Yourself” has Taylor-Taylor channeling his inner Iggy Pop, and “Rest Your Head” should have you thinking of Crash Test Dummies’ Brad Roberts from the first lyric. The album’s throwaway track, a cover of “Sixteen Tons”, is nothing short of a self-indulgent exercise accented with skronking saxophone.

A seemingly dissonant record that reveals itself upon repeated listening, This Machine may not be the band’s next Thirteen Songs From Urban Bohemia, but it doesn’t necessarily aim to be. The Dandys have been on their long, strange trip for nearly 20 years; it’s about time the band stopped and looked at all that they’ve covered on their journey. This Machine is not the result of the Dandys turning a corner or shifting direction, but rather taking the best of where they’ve been and applying it to where they’re going.

Essential Tracks: “The Autumn Carnival”, “SETI vs the Wow! Signal”, and “Enjoy Yourself”

The Dandy Warhols’ latest album, This Machine, has been called the band’s goth-iest by their friends and the grungiest by band front man Courtney Taylor-Taylor. Recently, Consequence of Sound spoke with Taylor-Taylor about the group’s eighth album, working with David J of Love and Rockets, and what it means to have songs on the album written entirely by someone other than himself.

You’ve described your new album, This Machine, as “stripped-down and extremely guitar-centric,” but you’ve also described it as “woody.” What did you mean by that?

Guitars are made of wood, ya know. So are drums. Real drums. I don’t really think about onomatopoeic descriptions, the whys or wherefores. It’s woody, but it’s not soft. It’s not particularly metallic-y, but there is something there. Yeah, it’s a woody, crunchy, dirty thing. It’s beautiful.

On your past albums, you’ve never shied away from revealing your influences, especially with regard to The Velvet Underground and Ride. You never sit still. It seems like you prefer to bounce between sounds and ideas throughout the whole of the album, but I notice there’s more of a commonality between all the songs on this new disc.

You felt like there was a commonality to all the songs on this record?

I thought so. When I was listening to it this morning and just walking around the house… I don’t know, I felt like…

Oh my God… Our records, we generally feel, are kind of all over the place before we put them in the song order. This one we really just sat and looked at each other when they were just a pile of songs in no order. There’s 11 finished, individual tracks. We looked at each other and just went, “What in the fuck are we going to do with this?” We felt that it had never been so… You know, the difference between “Sixteen Tons” and “The Autumn Carnival”, it was like, “Oh my God, what are we going to do?” The thing that does sound alike about them is having Tchad Blake, who’s a very interesting mixer, just left alone to do his thing and mix them.

Maybe that’s what it was, because when I was walking around the house and had it just playing, it just felt like there was some kind of connection between all the songs.

Well, that’s great. There’s a million connections. It’s basically the same four people on every one of them (laughs) and one guy mixing at the end of the thing without anybody in there fucking with him. Which is what I used to do during the mixing process. I’d hire these super-talented mixers, and then I’d sit there and micromanage them. So, this was a great thing. This was also the third record Tchad’s mixed for us.

So, you guys understand each other really well by now.

I think so, yeah.

You mentioned “Autumn Carnival”. That was co-written with David J of Love and Rockets (and formerly of Bauhaus). You said that someone told you that it was your goth-iest, but you thought it was your grungiest.

The record and the song and everything.

That’s what I thought. I am sure the quote was referencing the song, but after I listened to the album, I thought that that applies to the whole album.

Yeah, it’s really dark. Everyone keeps telling us, even dudes from The Warlocks are saying this is a dark, goth-y record. It definitely has this Northwest-y thing to it. I’m really glad we got Hickory Mertsching to do that cover, which is really the Northwest-iest painting that you could possibly ever have. It’s that old style John James Audubon style thing but with a landscape in there, too, not just a log and the owl or whatever.

Since you said it was the same four people on this album, I guess David J doesn’t play on the song.

No, no. I’m not a prolific writer; I never have been. Every song I’ve ever written is recorded on a Dandy Warhols record. I don’t have extra songs laying around. There are no “trapped” songs that didn’t make it on the record. I just don’t write much. I don’t actually write at all. I have to wait for them to happen to me, is more like how all of this has been done.

It’s been interesting. I’ve found other people who I am super-impressed with what they do, and I’ve tried writing with them on occasion. It’s nice. It’s a great relief to know–to be able to go in to write a song and know confidently that you are going to come out with something. It’s a great relief to know that I can. I can actually write a song on command if I have someone there to work with and keep each other… I think most of it is just keeping each other focused, because I’ll just get up and wander off and do something else if I tried to write. I’ll get disappointed that everything that comes out of me seems really cliché and obvious, and then I’ll get up and wander off and go, “Fuck it.”

It’s nice writing with other people, and David has certainly written some great stuff. “No New Tale to Tell” is lyrically one of the most amazing songs ever written. Do you remember that one? “You cannot go against nature, because if you do go against nature, it’s part of nature, too.”

When I got a chance to see Bauhaus a few years ago up in Maryland, it was just amazing. I felt like they hadn’t stopped from 1983. It was amazing seeing the same four members again.

Wow. When I saw them they were on tour with Trent [Reznor], and something happened. The light rig went out, so they were playing with the work lights, the white flood lights on. And we were on the back of the stage. Peter Murphy was just having a bald-headed, fucking gothic, old man tantrum. He was livid. And then Daniel Ash was having a pissy cross-dressing tantrum. It was just a mess. It was a mess, so I didn’t really, ya know…

That’s a shame. When I saw them, they were great. But I’ve never had a chance to see Love and Rockets.

That was one of our first tours, was Love and Rockets. So, I got to sing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” with them. That was the closest to me seeing Bauhaus, actually being the singer for Bauhaus (laughs), for four and a half minutes. That was fucking awesome. And what’s really absurd, you know how Peter [Murphy, Bauhaus vocalist] would take the mic in one fist and the cord in the other and stretch his arms out, pointing his thumbs away from him, holding the cord as far as he could, his arms perfectly stretched out to the sides, and then kind of work his shoulders back and forth and lean forward and do a bow, but with his shoulders right-left-right-left, bobbing forward? That move? I had all of them, because in high school, I learned every Peter Murphy move off of the Shadows and Light collection, and I could do Peter Murphy all the time. So, I had every Peter Murphy move down, so when I sang “Bela Lugosi” with them, they were ready to kick me out of the band by the end (laughs). Gratuitously fucking copying that dude. Peter Murphy is probably the favorite singer of my entire life. He or Andrew Eldridge.

Wow, yeah, Sisters of Mercy.

Fuckin’ A, we played with Andrew Eldridge. We played with Sisters last year in Belgium. I got to stand there on the side of the stage and watch that guy sing. Watching him sing is like watching fucking Baryshnikov dance.  It’s like you just sit there and wait for the next spectacular feat of human genius or transcendence. He just walks around; he dresses like an Army/US Marine Corps drill sergeant now; that’s his new look. And the wrap-around sunglasses. And he walks around, and he just points. He’ll pick some weirdo out of the crowd and tilt his head with his asshole wrap-around sunglasses on and point at the dude. Scary guy. The mic comes up to his face, and he goes [makes noise], and it’s fucking amazing. The most amazing thing comes out of his throat, through his mouth, into the microphone, broadcast out to thousands of people, and you see the speakers, and it’s like your spine goes numb, the hair stands up on your arms, and it’s like, “Fuck, this is incredible; this person is not quite like a human.”

Did you get a chance to come up onstage with them?

No. I didn’t meet the guy. Well, I met him a little bit. We were just lucky to get a soundcheck. I got to hang out with him a little bit afterwards. Andrew Eldridge is one of those self-taught, brilliant guys where he speaks like nine languages now, and he fancies himself a gentleman, although he wasn’t a posh kid or anything like that. He’s just made himself into the man he wants to be. He’s aged really well. He’s a cool, cool guy. And he’s fun, too. He wants to be real wise and worldly, and he is, but he’s also a goofy nerd, a goofy, super-smart nerd, too. He’s awesome. I love him. I was really impressed with that guy.

You’ve played with Bowie, too, right?

Uh-hmm. Yeah, I actually… when I got onstage with Bowie, he said, “You know, there’s only one other time in the history of Bowie that another person has come onto my stage and sang with me. The weirdest thing occurred to me, that it was about 30 years ago to the week, in this same room, the Royal Festival Hall. And Courtney… two months ago, when I said what are we going to do, what song are we going to do, he picked the same song that I picked 30 years ago when Lou Reed came up and sang with me. Ladies and gentlemen, ‘White Light, White Heat’.”

And fuckin’, we slayed that shit. It was incredible. And nobody filmed it. Not one person got their cell phone out or anything. Everybody was up on their chairs. It was a madhouse for three and a half… for three minutes it was a madhouse in there. People were going fucking bananas in the Royal Festival Hall. And then it was over, and there was nothing on the internet. It was nuts. I emailed David, “Did you get that? Did any of your guys get that?” Not one fucking person got it.

Once it happened, that was it. At least you have the memory. Why that song? What was it about that song?

I just didn’t know what song you’d do with Bowie. What do you do? Do you do one of Bowie’s songs? No. We certainly don’t do one of my songs. He would just go, “God, you’re a fucking vain weirdo.” What do you do? Who else do you do? A Beatles song? No. Well, maybe. Then I was somewhere… Oh, I was at a lighting guy’s girlfriend’s at the time, at her restaurant, and they were playing Bowie’s covers record, and “White Light, White Heat” was on it. And I was like, “Ah! Ah! There ya go!” He already knows it, he loves it, I love it. We used to get called a Velvet Underground rip-off band.

The Dandy Warhols – “Well They’re Gone”

That’s awesome.

It was. And it’s super-fun to play live. Fathead [drummer Brent DeBoer] was playing congas, and Zia [McCabe, keyboardist] on shakers, and I think Pete [Holmstrom, guitarist] might have even had a guitar plugged in. Who knows. It was kind of like–get on, sing with him. My guitar was in; I was in the mix and all that shit. I’m not sure what else was going on, but it was a pretty crazy three minutes of my life. Standing there, looking over at David Bowie onstage and singing to him. At one point, I’m singing in the mic, looking at him, and he’s singing in the mic looking at me. And it’s crazy. We’re doing that Run-DMC “White light buh buh buh buh. White heat…” And I was doing the “white light, white heat” part, and he was doing the stuff in between. And it was just like, “Shit, this is really working.”

Did you have any prep time, or was the only thing you knew in advance the song?

No. Backstage we talked about it, and what key it’s in. His band had a slightly different version than the VU version, so I said, “We’ll just do your version, and I’ll watch Earl Slick’s hand to watch where the chords are going, so don’t pull anything weird.” And, yeah, that was fine. No flubber. God, that was something. Wow. I haven’t relived that moment for a long time. Thanks.

On this album, I’ve noticed, this is one of the first times that you’ve had songs written entirely by other band members.

Yeah. That’s pretty awesome.

Is that something we’re going to see more of in the future?

God, I hope so. I guess I could write with other people, but, hopefully Fathead and Zia will just kind of produce more stuff. “Sad Vacation” wasn’t written by me and Fathead. It was written by Fathead, but Zia didn’t like the lyrics, so she wanted me to fix some of them. So, I just went in and reworked the lyrics and kind of strengthened the emotional content of it. Took it away from being bitter to being more defiant, I suppose… or more confident, more strength in aloneness rather than the bitterness. Because Fathead tends to go into a bitter, comfortably bitter language in songs. So that was just a tinkering.

Fathead has really got some great music in him. We’ve all just gotten so good at the studio process and getting it out and da, da-da, da-da. What the possibilities are once you have sort of a melody and words and stuff. Monkeyhouse [Welcome to the Monkeyhouse, 2003], for example, was a standard wall of guitars Dandy Warhols record. I was, “I’m tired of this. I’m tired of this sound. I’m tired of vintage guitars.” The Strokes and the White Stripes and Jet were huge, and I was like, “Look at all these young fucking amazing guitar bands. The world doesn’t need one more,” and the “new wave” hadn’t happened yet.

I stripped out every fucking guitar and every instrument that was playing a chord for more than an 1/8 note. Anything long or thick got reduced and made a minimalist, experimental record out of just pushing buttons in a studio, muting, and gating, and EQ-ing. I sat there with that thing one night, stayed up all night with Bjorn Thorsrud, who was engineering at the time, and we just started muting and muting and muting and muting and muting and muting. I just wanted to see if these songs would be whole songs with just drums and vocals. Was that enough? It was pretty damn close. Sometimes, I’d let the bass come in and go “boo… boo… boo,” and that’s it. Everybody in the band now knows you can do that. You can write a country song, and if you diddle with it enough in the studio and have enough inspiration and focus and luck, it can end up being like a Peaches track by 3 o’clock in the morning. Pete’s not really into writing songs, but Zia and Fathead, they love it. They’re into it. We can all edit each other’s lyrics if we need help. Things are looking good.

The other members are also in side projects, two country bands and a psychedelic rock band.  Has there been any thought to bringing those bands on the road with The Dandy Warhols?

We keep that all separate, because it would get weird. Personally, I wouldn’t want to perform for that long, and the psychology of having to do that, then get my head back into it… That’s a bad idea anyway. But when we’re on tour, we’re there because we’re this band. We’re The Dandy Warhols at the end of the day.

What about One Model Nation? You made a fake greatest hits album for the band you wrote about in your graphic novel.

Yeah, yeah, Totalwerks, Vol. 1.

Would you ever actually consider making a little band and touring that around?

I wouldn’t [laughs]. That’s the book. The book could go out as though that’s a tour.

Any plans to write a follow-up book?

Oh, I don’t know that I have another story in me. If I have another writer who wants to write, maybe then they go to South America and get involved in some political arts thing in an emerging third world country. Argentina, lots of German ex-pats, 1980. Pick up a year and a half later. Maybe they went to Mars. Maybe they get abducted by aliens. Maybe they fall into a wrinkle in time and a black hole and come out in a different time. They come out in Roman times.

You have ideas. You can do this. You can do it while you’re on the tour bus. Are you excited for the tour?

Yeah, pretty stoked.

You’re going all over Europe. When do you come back to the States?

Well, we’re going out for a couple and a half weeks, then we come back for a couple and a half weeks. And then we do America for a month. Then come home for a few weeks, and then, hopefully, we get to go live in the French countryside for a couple months. And just play shows in Europe and play little arts festivals all over France and Belgium or wherever. Just have a French country lifestyle for a couple months. That’s what we’re trying to do next.

Sounds like a nice reward for all the hard work.

Yeah, totally.

As previously reported, The Dandy Warhols return on April 24th with their ninth studio full-length, This Machine, via The End Records. To support the release, the Portland rockers will hit the road starting next month and stay there until June. Peep the full itinerary below, shortly after a stream/download of the album track “Sad Vacation”.

The Dandy Warhols – “Sad Vacation”

This Machine Tracklist:
01. Sad Vacation
02. The Autumn Carnival
03. Enjoy Yourself
04. Alternative Power To The People
05. Well They’re Gone
06. Rest Your Head
07. 16 Tons
08. I Am Free
09. SETI vs Wow! Signal
10. Don’t Shoot She Cried
11. Slide

The Dandy Warhols 2012 Tour Dates:
05/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
05/19 – San Diego, CA @ 4th & B
05/20 – Scottsdale, AZ @ Roxy Lounge
05/22 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s East
05/23 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
05/25 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
05/26 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte
05/27 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
05/29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
05/30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
06/01 – Boston, MA @ Royale Nightclub
06/02 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre
06/03 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
06/05 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
06/06 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House
06/08 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
06/09 – Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
06/10 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
06/12 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
06/13 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen
06/15 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
06/16 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
06/17 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market

As previously reported, The Dandy Warhols return on April 24th with their ninth studio full-length, This Machine, The End Records. You’ve already heard “Well They’re Gone”; now have a listen to the album opener, “Sad Vacation”. The bass-heavy driver keeps persistent throughout and it’s a good indication of more things to come. Check it out below.

The Dandy Warhols – “Sad Vacation”

We’re a week and some change away from South by Southwest, so while most of you are soaking up sounds of all those artists you’ve penciled into your schedules, you might want to check out some newer cuts from Titus Andronicus, Regina Spektor, Norah Jones, The Dandy Warhols, and Melvins. Yeah, it’s been a good week for the veterans.

The Dandy Warhols – “Well They’re Gone”

We’re still a couple months out from the release of The Dandy Warhols’ ninth studio record This Machine, but they’re offering up an early preview of the album with “Well They’re Gone”, a desolate, surprisingly folksy cut that makes for a very solid first single. This Machine is out April 24th on The End Records. -Möhammad Choudhery

The Dandy Warhols – “Well They’re Gone”

Dent May – “Fun”

“Fun”, the first track released from Dent May’s upcoming sophomore album, Do Things (from Paw Tracks, on June 12th), stays true to its name. Cheesy, ’80s keyboard percussion and lithe, funky bass background the singer-songwriter’s psych-disco coo. The syrupy synth solo and equally saccharine talk about how much fun it is to be friends is over-the-top, but too danceably groovy to deny. After the reliance on strings on 2009′s Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele, the chorus of “don’t know what’s in store for me/but I think it’s gonna be fun” pretty much sums up our anticipation for his album. -Adam Kivel

[soundcloud width="500"]http://soundcloud.com/paw-tracks/fun-1[/soundcloud]

Hundred Waters – “Caverns”

Gainesville, Florida psyche-rock sextet Hundred Waters have some big moments coming up on their calendar, including a stop at the CoS stage at Orlando’s Orange You Glad Festival. Those of us not able to make it down to the bright lights of sunny FL will have to make due with “Caverns”, a sleepy cut from their excellent, new self-titled debut. Sounding like Beach House vocalist Victoria Legrand and a twinkly, electronic soundscape, vocalist Nicole Miglis and company sound severely spacy, letting you float away into the ether. -Adam Kivel

Hundred Waters – “Caverns”

Lightning Bolt – “I Found a Ring In My Ear”

Few bands can pull off releasing a 20 minute jam on a whim, but Providence, RI noise duo Lightning Bolt are definitely one such band. Recorded straight to a four-track “in the Hillarious Attic, Lair of the Lightning Bolt,” the long-winded monster “I Found a Ring In My Ear”, guitarist/bassist Brian Gibson shreds at the high notes while drummer/vocalist Brian Chippendale clobbers the snare with an unmatched ferocity. The patch of melody that Gibson delves into around five minutes in drifts into a trance, everything coming together into a droney, pummeling bliss. -Adam Kivel

Melvins – “The War on Wisdom”

Like some sort of weirdo-metal Peter Pan, the Melvins keep punishing both their instruments and expected conventions of their genre. The shuddering drums and epic chords that open “The War on Wisdom” (from their upcoming Scion A/V presented EP The Bulls and the Bees) give way to a distorted guitar riff with tinges of hair metal peeking in at the corners. Guitarist/vocalist/idol Buzz Osborne’s rich, groaning delivery is echoed by a crowd of similarly chaotic hooligans, the whole thing sounding as badass as any of their old material. -Adam Kivel

Norah Jones – “Happy Pills”

The lead single off Norah Jones’ upcoming fifth LP Little Broken Hearts sounds about exactly as you’d expect, marrying the smooth jazz/blues of her past work to the textured, retro-leaning stylings of super-producer Danger Mouse. Little Broken Hearts is out May 1st on Blue Note/EMI Records. -Möhammad Choudhery

[soundcloud width="500"]http://soundcloud.com/norahjonesofficial/happy-pills[/soundcloud]

Regina Spektor – “All the Rowboats”

It’s been a while since we last heard from NYC singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. “All the Rowboats” makes for a dramatic first peek at her forthcoming sixth LP What We Saw From The Cheap Seats. -Möhammad Choudhery

[soundcloud width="500"]http://soundcloud.com/reginaspektor/alltherowboats[/soundcloud]

Tanlines – “All of Me”

Brooklyn electro-producer duo Tanlines have built quite the name for themselves with a series of top-notch remixes for Glasser and Au Revoir Simone and opening slots on tours with HEALTH and Julian Casablancas. “All of Me” is the second preview of their forthcoming debut, Mixed Emotions, coming on the heels of the fantastic “Brothers”. Mixed Emotions is out March 20th on True Panther. -Möhammad Choudhery

Tanlines – “All of Me”

THEESatisfaction (feat. Shabazz Palaces) – “Enchantruss”

The twisty, trippy vocal loop on “Enchantruss”, the latest leaked cut from avant R&B duo THEESatisfaction’s upcoming debut awE NaturalE (March 27, Sub Pop), wobbles, but it doesn’t fall down. Instead, it works together with clacking progression to provide a base for Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White to, at turns, harmonize beautifully and lay down some sick lines. Palaceer Lazaro stops in for a verse, but these two ladies are the standouts, calling themselves “time travellin’ nightmares” and working out a way to rhyme Black Keys with Black Jesus. -Adam Kivel

THEESatisfaction (feat. Shabazz Palaces) – “Enchantruss”

Titus Andronicus – “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape with the Flood of Detritus (Andronicus)”

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Miss Titus Andronicus yet? We certainly do. It’ll be two years next week since they dropped their last, very phenomenal full-length The Monitor and we’re still waiting on word about a follow-up. Earlier this week, frontman Patrick Stickles announced that, in addition to hitting the road this spring for a slew of tourdates (which happens to include a headlining spot at Consequence of Sound’s SXSW event CoSigns), the Mahwah, NJ-punkers will release a split 7″ with tourmates Diarhhea Planet with a full-length reportedly due out on November. -Möhammad Choudhery

Stream here (scroll to the 2:37:00 mark.)

As previously reported, The Dandy Warhols return on April 24th with their ninth studio LP, This Machine, via The End Records. As a first listen, RollingStone.com brings us the track titled “Well They’re Gone”. Tearing a page out of the ol’ Mark Lanegan songwriting book, the new cut saunters about with eerie tranquility as Courtney Taylor-Taylor numbly states, “You belong to me, just stay here in my arms.” Whoever’s on the opposite end of the Portland songwriter should either be swooning with delight or running for their life. We’re betting on the latter. Grab the free download below.

The Dandy Warhols – “Well They’re Gone”

Consult the track list below.

This Machine Tracklist:
01. Sad Vacation
02. The Autumn Carnival
03. Enjoy Yourself
04. Alternative Power To The People
05. Well They’re Gone
06. Rest Your Head
07. 16 Tons
08. I Am Free
09. SETI vs Wow! Signal
10. Don’t Shoot She Cried
11. Slide

As previously reported, Portland’s The Dandy Warhols will release their ninth studio LP, titled This Machine, in April. Now, the band has unleashed all sorts of details surrounding the LP, including a release date, album artwork (see above), and a tracklist, which you can peep below.

Due out April 24th via The End Records, This Machine was recorded at the band’s own studio The Odditorium with their longtime engineer Jeremy Sherrer and later mixed by Tchad Blake, who’s worked with Pearl Jam and The Black Keys. Sporting 11 tracks, Dandy principal songwriter Courtney Taylor-Taylor calls the album the band’s “grungiest” effort to date, adding that it’s “stripped down, woody and extremely guitar centric.”

To add more flavor, the band tapped English science-fiction writer Richard Morgan to pen the Dandy’s official biography for the album. It’s broken down into four short stories, all of which you can read here. Also, the album’s artwork was completed by local Portland artist Hickory Mertsching.

For an advanced listen of the LP, check out two of its tracks below the tracklist. Both “Rest Your Head” and a version of “SETI vs Wow! Signal” were debuted during the band’s Australian tour in 2011.

This Machine hits stores April 24th (via The End).

This Machine Tracklist:
01. Sad Vacation
02. The Autumn Carnival
03. Enjoy Yourself
04. Alternative Power To The People
05. Well They’re Gone
06. Rest Your Head
07. 16 Tons
08. I Am Free
09. SETI vs Wow! Signal
10. Don’t Shoot She Cried
11. Slide

“Rest Your Head”:

“SETI vs Wow! Signal”:

Portland’s The Dandy Warhols will follow up 2009′s The Dandy Warhols Are Sound with a new LP this April. Titled This Machine, the group’s ninth album has little to no details yet, but last year, amidst their Australian tour, they did debut two new songs: “Rest Your Head” and “The Wow Signal”. No word on whether or not either of those will be on the LP, but it’s a little slice of material to consider.

Meanwhile, fans can look forward to seeing them on tour this year; already, they’ve issued a slew of European dates that take up much of April. Nothing like an overseas vacay in the Spring, eh? Peep the full itinerary below, re-listen to Dandy favorite “You Were The Last High” after, and stay tuned for more information on the new LP.

The Dandy Warholds 2012 Tour Dates:
04/14 – Bergen, NO @ Ole Bull
04/15 – Oslo, NO @ Rockefeller
04/18 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar St.
04/19 – Glasgow, UK @ Garage
04/20 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2
04/21 – London, UK @ Forum
04/23 – Zurich, CH @ Abart
04/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
04/26 – Dusseldorf, DE @ Zakk
04/27 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
04/29 – Paris, FR @ Olympia
04/30 – Luxemborg, LU @ Luxemborg den Atelier

“You Were The Last High”:

Ghost On The Canvas features all brand new songs written by the likes of Paul Westerberg, Jakob Dylan, Robert Pollard, and Teddy Thompson. In addition, Chris Isaak, Dick Dale, Billy Corgan, Brian Setzer, Rick Nielsen, Roger Manning, and The Dandy Warhols all appear as guests on the LP. Campbell also plans to put on a “valedictory worldwide concert tour” called “The Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour”, with the entire itinerary to be announced shortly.

In the interview with People, Campbell revealed he’s been suffering short-term memory loss for several years. The actual Alzheimer’s diagnosis, though, occurred six months ago. “I still love making music,” Campbell said. “And I still love performing for my fans. I’d like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin.”

Ghost On The Canvas hits stores August 30th via Surfdog Records.

After a string of Australia shows for the Parklife Festival in late September/early October, the band hits the U.S. with a pretty hefty selection of shows starting October 28th in Minneapolis, MN. From there, it’s a heaping helping of dates across the U.S. (and Canada) before coming to a close on December 12th in Portland, OR. Just in time for Christmas at home.

If you’re jonesing for some kind of Dandy Warhols release, The Capitol Years 1995-2007, their best-of collection from their time at Capitol Records, was released back in July. Tickets for select shows can be bought at Ticketmaster.com.

The Dandy Warhols 2010 Tour Dates:
09/25 – Brisbane, UA @ Parklife Festival
09/26 – Perth, AU @ Parklife Festival
09/30 – Hobart, AU @ Wrest Point
10/02 – Melbourne, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/03 – Sydney, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/04 – Adelaide, AU @ Parklife Festival
10/16 – Portland, OR @ Satyricon (Farewell to Satyricon)
10/28 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Cafe
10/29 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/30 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
11/01 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/02 – Montreal< QC @ Le National
11/03 – Boston, MA @ Royale Nightclub
11/05 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House
11/06 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/09 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
11/10 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
11/11 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
11/13 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
11/14 – Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa
12/01 – Victoria, BC @ Sugar
12/02 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
12/03 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Market
12/07 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
12/08 – Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Cafe
12/10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Club Nokia
12/11 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
12/12 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom

Among the tickets on sale Friday include !!!, Blonde Redhead, Brandon Flowers, Broken Bells, Pennywise, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, The Dandy Warhols, The Gaslight Anthem, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. American Carnage tickets are also available to the general public.

Editors Note: Ticketmaster efficiently killed its Affiliate Program this week, putting a halt on all commissions from concert tickets sold within the first 24 hours of their on-sale date. (90 – 95% of all commissions made come during this window.) As a result, this is the last week you can support CoS by purchasing tickets, so please buy while you can!

!!!:

What: North American tour

When: September – November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

30 Seconds to Mars:

What: North American tour

When: September – October

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

American Carnage:

What: North American Tour featuring Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer

When: September – October

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Blonde Redhead:

What: North American tour

When: September – December

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Brandon Flowers (of The Killers):

What: North American warm-up tour

When: August

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Broken Bells:

What: Tour dates for Los Angeles and New York City

When: October 6th and 11th, respectively

Tixs: $27.50 – $32.50

Buy: Ticketmaster at 12:00 PM Local Time

The Dandy Warhols:

What: North American tour

When: November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

The Gaslight Anthem:

What: North American tour

When: September

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s:

What: North American tour

When: September – November

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Pennywise:

What: North American tour

When: September

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Rodrigo Y Gabriela:

What: North American tour

When: August – October

Tixs: Price varies depending on location

Buy: Ticketmaster at 10:00 AM Local Time

Are we missing anything? Let us know below! Also, if you’re looking for shows for an already sold-out show, try our partner site Seatgeek.com.

It happened before the train wrecks Stuck on You, Jersey Girl, and Bennifer. Elliott Smith was alive and making tremendously gorgeous music. The year was 1998, and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, two newbies to Hollywood via Boston, held the red carpet and an entire post-modern generation captive with the quasi-autobiographical screenplay Good Will Hunting.

It’s not your fault.

Unless, of course, you happened to be a voting member of the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who bestowed the Oscar for Best Original Song to overly fizzy, Canadian pop songstress Celine Dion for “My Heart Will Go On”. On and on and on did that song go until Titanic finally sunk into its procrustean bed of SNL mockery. Those who were a part of the Academy that year passed over Elliott Smith’s original song “Miss Misery”, the linchpin of the Good Will Hunting soundtrack, and must harbor the guilt. To use the fuming, angry words of Damon’s character, Will Hunting, I bet every time that blasted Titanic song comes on they wish they had a take-back.

To everyone else, it’s not your fault.

After all, it’s easy to wax cynical about what grabs society by the neck, cuts off oxygen to the brain, and sends people into stupor-induced frenzies of idolatry. We are a fickle people who are quick to anoint something as the next big thing only to find ourselves mocking it shortly after (see also: Pogs, The Macarena, and the Rachel haircut). The truly golden stuff shines on. Guess what film, 12 years later, is still enjoying a spot in iTunes’ top 10 movie sales? Good Will Hunting. How about them apples?

Sure, we can nit-pick about Robin Williams’ on again/off again, Bostonian accent. Sure, GWH’s numerous memorable lines and man-emo made their share of SNL skits, but let’s get on to the music. Kevin Smith worked with Affleck on Chasing Amy and shopped his pal’s screenplay around Hollywood, passed over by several studios until landing at Miramax. Gus Van Sant directed and tapped Danny Elfman, whose CV includes Tim Burton’s Batman and The Simpsons, to compose the score. This is where it gets a bit interesting. Only two small bits of Elfman’s Oscar-nominated score appear on the official soundtrack. Elfman explains to Nuno Markl, “The albums are not about the movie: they are about marketing … It’s a little bit sad for the movie because, more and more the soundtrack album doesn’t necessarily represent the movie … Good Will Hunting didn’t represent the movie at all.” He speaks the truth.

“Fisherman’s Blues” is a fun, Irish-gypsy surprise, but misrepresentation rings true as tracks by Andru Donalds and Luscious Jackson seem particularly misplaced amidst chancy choices like “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty and “Boys Better” by The Dandy Warhols.  At least the latter earn their way as believable background noise in the life of the blue-collar, Bostonian twenty-somethings.

Elfman’s score also garnered an Academy Award nomination in the appropriate category (Best Original Score) and again lost to Titanic. Though, this is not as difficult to stomach because the score’s two true standout attributes are not Elfman’s original compositions. Instead, the best triumphs are his intricate weaving of the simple score into the modern cuts (as seen in the both the Harvard bar and fight scenes) and, secondly, Elliott Smith’s songs.

Taking Elfman’s thoughts about the album alone, he appears bitter about the compilation. However, the compilation and the film itself are a tremendous example of composer and contemporary musician weaving together their creativity, using the best of both talents. The decision to work with Elliott Smith appears to have been easy. Elfman said, “There were times when we [Van Sant, Smith] would sit together and play the guitar and play ideas. I was then able to make my score interface really well with Elliot’s music. I could make a piece of score end to the same key and flow into the introduction of Elliot’s songs, so you really couldn’t tell the difference! That was the best experience I had in terms of working with an artist on songs.”  This critical detail is a delicate one, which adorns without distracting from the true triumph of the film – the emerging of redemption from the broken lives of the characters.

At the time of the film, Elliott Smith was newly signed to a label and set to release his first non-independent albums. His confessional lyrics came from the dark, demonized caverns of his persona but were mournfully comforting; from this place, Smith helped pave the way for Emo’s mainstream surface in the early 2000s. Will Hunting is tough, bristled, and defensive. Smith’s music is gentle, effacing, and revealing. How does it work so well?  Playing into the dichotomy of the two was genius. Smith’s sound embodies the capable emotions running through Hunting, hidden and protected, buried somewhere under his combative amour. It shows the side of Will he cannot (or will not) show himself.

The film and soundtrack showcase Smith’s “Angeles”, “No Name #3″, and arguably his two most popular songs, “Say Yes” and “Between the Bars”. “Between the Bars” plays during a comfortably intimate scene between Will and his love interest, Skylar, played by Minnie Driver. Skylar playfully asks the defensive Will to be more open in their relationship. “People you’ve been before that you don’t want around anymore/That push and shove and won’t bend to your will/I’ll keep them still/Drink up, baby, look at the stars/I’ll kiss you again between the bars.” The song fits superbly with Will’s attempt to segment his life into nice, little, inaccessible pieces.

“Say Yes” is one of the most playful scenes of the film, where Will and Skylar have their first date. The lyrics encompass even more of the film’s theme of shards of happiness left in a mess when the dread of future loss paralyzes one from enjoying the moment.

Will’s journey culminates in “Miss Misery”, written specifically for the film. The self-deprecating tune somehow fills us with hope, as Will makes his first conscious decision to take off the armor, driving into the risk of loving and being loved. “It’s a comedy of errors, you see/It’s about taking a fall/To vanish into oblivion/Is easy to do/And I try to be but you know me/I come back when you want me to.” This is where Elliott Smith and Will Hunting part ways. Sadly, Smith never faced his demons and died tragically in 2003, most likely at the doing of his own hand. Thankfully, Smith’s music lives on in the story of a man whose life plays out differently, calling all out of shame and fear into a place of honesty and freedom.

Good Will Hunting Original Motion Picture Soundtrack tracklist

01. “Between the Bars [Orchestral]” – Elliott Smith
02. “As the Rain” – Jeb Loy Nichols
03. “Angeles” – Elliott Smith
04. “No Name #3″ – Elliott Smith
05. “Fisherman’s Blues” – The Waterboys
06. “Why Do I Lie?” – Luscious Jackson
07. “Will Hunting [Main Titles]”
08. “Between the Bars” – Elliott Smith
09. “Say Yes” – Elliott Smith
10. “Baker Street” – Gerry Rafferty
11. “Somebody’s Baby” – Andru Donalds
12. “Boys Better” – The Dandy Warhols
13. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” – Al Green
14. “Miss Misery” – Elliott Smith
15. “Weepy Donuts” – Steve Bartek, Danny Elfman

Monolith’s third edition will again take place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado from September 12-13 and feature quite the indie-centric line up we’ve all come to expect and enjoy.

Saturday is highlighted by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Girl Talk, Of Montreal, M. Ward, The Walkmen, Frightened Rabbit, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, while Sunday offers The Mars Volta, MSTRKRFT, Method Man & Redman, Phoenix, Chromeo, Passion Pit, The Thermals and Wale among others.

As it stands, Monolith 2009 currently looks like this:

A Shoreline Dream, The Answering Machine, The Antlers, AutoVaughn, Avi Buffalo, Beats Antique, Boulder Acoustic Society, Caitlin Rose, Chromeo, Cotton Jones, Cymbals Eat Guitars, The Dandy Warhols, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, Deer Tick, DOOM, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, The Features, French Horn Rebellion, Frightened Rabbit, Generationals, Girl Talk, The Glitch Mob, The Grates, Gregory Alan Isakov, Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed The Man, Harlem Shakes, HEALTH, Ida Maria, The Knew, Lydia, M. Ward, The Mars Volta, Method Man & Redman, Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano, Miniature Tigers, Montonix, MSTRKRFT, Neon Indian, Of Montreal, OK Go, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Passion Pit, Phoenix, The Pirate Signal, Rachel Goodrich, Red Wire Black Wire, Savoy, Speakeasy, Tiger, Spindrift, Starfucker, Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, The Thermals, These United States, Thunderheist, Tigercity, The Twilight Sad, Viva Voice, Wale, The Walkmen, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Wendy Darling, Woodhands, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ahead of the festivities, Monolith will also be hosting two kick-off parties on Friday, September 11th at the Gothic Theater and Moes BBQ in Denver, with a Chromeo DJ set, The Cool Kids, Hot Tub, and Boyhollow being the scheduled entertainment of the evening. The events will be open to VIP ticket holders, media and winners of the Southern Comfort ticket promotion.

Speaking of tickets, single day, two-day and VIP passes are all currently on sale via monolithfestival.com, but you better hurry, prices for all three options will go up on August 14th.

Pulling together the many influences and unique sounds that have always characterized their music, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols, is quintessential Dandy’s. Although it’s the debut album on their new label, Beat World Records, the change of scenery hasn’t affected the band’s sound much. Courtney Taylor-Taylor and the other Dandy’s are still playing dreary psychedelic rock that’s somehow still fun. Filled with an enormous cluster-fuck of variety, this album definitely creates a fresh perspective of the ever so popular (and dare I say repetitive) indie-pop scene.

The Dandy Warhols have gotten a lot of notoriety in the past from having their songs featured in commercials. However, on this new album you are not likely to find a suitable song for anything but Space food. This time the band is just out there floating in space. Even though the album is essentially “out of this world,” The Dandy Warhols don’t forget to comment back on the world they are so critical of.

Drawing from the music of the Talking Heads and The Rolling Stones, “Welcome to the 3rd World” is the kind of song you could see being played at your next house party. It gets you feeling spunky and optimistic until you hear the rather harsh lyrics, “The boys all like the girls/and the girls like the money/you gotta spread it around/you see the girls like the boys/and the boys like the honey.” Perhaps this is the beauty and genius of The Dandy Warhols, because they can so easily trap you in a pit of self-hate, yet you can’t resist dancing in it.

Within the territory of psychedelic rock, the album brings you swirling guitar riffs, spacey harmonies, hypnotic beats and an endless void of synthesized sound. Ranging from the Orgy-esk psychedelic chug of “Mission Control” to “The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty” featuring the country stomp that Marcy Playground conquered in 1998, this album touches on a bit of everything. Mark Knopfler and Mike Campell guest in “Love Song,” which is a soothing calm that surprisingly isn’t another cover of the Cure. Later on, the campy mariachi band style of “Mis Amigos” offers you a chance to build up your self-esteem and the 15-minute orchestrated ambience of “Musee D’Nougat” ends the album with a sort of silent eerie lift off from space.

Amongst the beauty of this album, The Dandy Warhols are still assholes and they know it. As of recently, it’s become expected of them to shape their music as a mockery and a celebration of pop music and culture. As the title suggests, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols may be a critique of The Dandy’s themselves instead of the planet Earth. The album is currently only available for streaming off their website, but the CD version will be in stores August 19, 2008. Be sure to check this one out; it will surely guide your summer towards a glittering cave of wonders.

Check Out:
“The World The People Together (Come On)”
“The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty”