November 2008 Archives

This account at Idolator by Jess Harvill makes a lot more sense than most of the speculation from the last 10 years. 

Atlantic Records says more than half its revenue now comes from digital sales--song downloads and ringtones--instead of physical discs, according to the New York Times. 

Q magazine:

1. Kings of Leon, Only by the Night
2. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
3. Coldplay, Viva la Vida
4. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
5. Glasvegas, Glasvegas
6. Duffy, Rockferry
7. TV on the Radio, Dear Science*
8. Elbow, The Seldom Seen Kid
9. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely
10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Even though you won't be seeing Scott Miller on New Year's Eve, you can still catch him at the Square Room on Wednesday, Dec. 17, with R.B. Morris and Todd Steed. 

Blender's Top 33 Albums of 2008 list is out, too. The top 10:

1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
2. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
3. TV on the Radio, Dear Science,
4. Metallica, Death Magnetic
5. Hot Chip, Made in the Dark
6. Robyn, Robyn
7. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
8. Randy Newman, Harps and Angels
9. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
10. Fall Out Boy, Folie a Deux

Paste Magazine has released its list of the Top 50 Albums of 2008. The Top 10:

10. Deer Hunter, Microcastle
9. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
8. Sun Kil Moon, April
7. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
6. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
5. Okkervil River, The Stand Ins
4. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
3. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
2. Sigur Ros, Med sud i...
1. She and Him, Volume One

I've never even heard of She and Him.

The usual annual Scott Miller New Year's Eve show doesn't look like it's happening this year. This year's, which would have Miller's 18th NYE show in Knoxville in 19 years, was scheduled to take place at the newly sort-of opened venue Barataria in the old Blue Cats space in the old City.

According to a post on Miller's message board, Barataria has "closed up shop":

"Folks,

The venue that hired Scott Miller & The Commonwealth for this year's New Year's Eve Show (2008) has closed up shop and left everyone hanging, unfortunately waiting so late to tell anyone that the chance we'll find another venue and have the time to advertise it properly has come and gone. I don't think I can even come close to expressing my disappointment in not playing Knoxville on New Year's Eve LIKE I HAVE DONE from 1990 (except for 2001) to 2007!!!! Way to kill a tradition, you weasels!!

(Somebody might be getting a piece of coal in their stocking and dog poop on their door knobs for Christmas! A-hem).

ANYWAY: Ultimate Commonwealth apologies to all who make a yearly pilgrimage and party likes its 1999 EVERY YEAR! If something comes up and a show can happen, we'll let you know right here!

Scott Miller
Really pissed guy at the moment"

You don't have to be a fan of Cannibal Corpse to enjoy the three-hour documentary that's included on the band's new Metal Blade DVD set, Centuries of Torment. The documentary's universal appeal isn't that the band--responsible for songs like "Hammer Smashed Face," "Devoured by Vermin," and "Fucked With a Knife"--come off as unintentionally hilarious cretins. For real, it's about as good as a label-sponsored promo documentary can get--exhaustive, crammed with former band members, hangers-on, fans, old live footage and photos--and the interviews are smart and thoughtful. Centuries of Torment totally smashes (with a hammer) the faces of other recent extreme music docs like American Hardcore and Black Metal: A Documentary. 

from the press release:

SUPERDRAG ANNOUNCE THE RELEASE OF NEW ALBUM... INDUSTRY GIANTS

Knoxville, TN / (November 21, 2008) / The Superdrag reunion was the talk of 2007, their performances at Bonnaroo and Monolith were the talk of 2008, and 2009 will be the year of Industry Giants, the new album from Knoxville's favorite sons Superdrag.  Industry Giants will be the first studio album by the reunited line-up of Coffey, Davis, Fisher, and Pappas since '98's Head Trip In Every Key.

Industry Giants finds Superdrag's music moving forward, and nullifies the unwritten law, which dictates that all reunion albums must be bitter disappointments.  The songs say something meaningful about the world that speaks to everyone, and at times they rock harder than Superdrag has ever been known to rock before.

John Davis statement says it all, "I can't wait to get the record out.  I can't wait for people to hear it.  I wish it could come out tomorrow."

Produced by John Davis and recorded and mixed in Nashville, Knoxville, and Los Angeles, Industry Giants will be released on Superdrag Sound Laboratories / Thirty Tigers, March 17th 2009.

Just a couple of days after telling the Associated Press that he will "go down as the voice of this generation," Kanye West got arrested again for being a dick.

Kanye responds in ALL CAPS.

Former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg tells the Guardian that he's writing songs for Glen Campbell's next album. Campbell recorded the 'Mats' "Sadly Beautiful" for his most recent disc. 

Kid Rock really is the best rock star in America right now. He was in the running just for crossing "All Summer Long" over to classic rock radio and then the country charts, but bringing Lil Wayne onstage at the CMAs to pretend to play guitar with him (and both of them wearing Tennessee Titans jerseys, no less!) during the song made it official.

Kenny Chesney won an inexplicable fourth Entertainer of the Year Award. Go figure.

A totally unverified report that Philip Glass will be performing in Knoxville soon was posted on KnoxBlab earlier this week. 

Ever-popular shit-kickers the Drive-By Truckers have announced a Jan. 29 show at the Valarium.