Author: chip midnight

LOST returns

Just about the only non-music content you’re going to get on AtomicNed.com comes in the way of discussion about LOST. The new season starts this week and, if you’re like me, you might need just a quick refresher before season 4 kicks off.

This recap, produced by ABC, covers the first 3 seasons in rapid fire succession in 8 minutes and 15 seconds (815 … get it?)

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=QIuXZ37GQIs[/youtube]

While season 3 started off slowly – yes, I’ll admit that I thought maybe it had jumped the shark – the last half of the season was some of the best TV I’ve ever seen. If you remember, the last episode (“Through the Looking Glass”) introduced the concept of flash-forward and it totally caught people off guard.

It seems like the writer’s have thought long and hard about how season 3 was slow out of the gate and they’ll be picking up where that season dropped off which should make for a pretty intense first episode of season 4, titled “The Beginning of the End”.

Here’s a sneak preview of what’s in store for this season (at least for the first 8 episodes that were filmed before the writer’s strike).

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=0ou7cWOTXJs[/youtube]

There are, of course, a million fan sites out there dealing with LOST. If you’re a fan of the show, you’ve probably already found one or a few that you visit often and trust. My favorite is Lostcasts.com which hosts a weekly podcast recapping the previous week’s episode and offers some insight into what might be going on and also reveals some spoilers. If you’ve got time before the first episode, I’d recommend checking out Lostcasts most recent podcast, episode 59, “Theory Cast”. It’s a little more than an hour long.

DOWNLOAD: LOSTCasts 59: Theory Cast

And while you’re at it, if you missed Matthew Fox’s interview in Entertainment Weekly a few weeks ago, it’s post on the EW.com site. There may be some things that could be construed as “spoilers” but Fox doesn’t give too much away.

Free Music Friday

The Gutter Twins – “Idle Hands” (Dulli + Lanegan = Amazing)
Black Mountain – “Tyrants”  (Pink Rebel Sabbath Club)
Grand Archives – “Torn Blue Foam Couch” (ex-Band of Horses!!!!!)
Monade – “Regard” (featuring Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab)
The Helio Sequence – “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” (great song but not even the best on their new CD)
Say Hi – “Northwestern Girls”, “Toil and Trouble” (MySpace top 8 includes Nada Surf, Plus/Minus, Bishop Allen among others and for obvious reasons)
No Kids – “The Beaches Are All Closed” (Dancey indie-pop)
The Autumns – “Boys” (LA band = J.Buckley meets Brit shoegazer pop)
Kelley Stoltz – “Your Reverie” (’60s-style pop ala The Beatles, The Monkees)
The Heavy Circles – “Henri” (Edie Brickell + Harper Simon, son of her husband, Paul)
Why? – “Close to Me”(Cure cover), “The Hollows” (Any friend of Hood is a friend of mine)
Miguel Miggs – “Fire” (featuring Junior Reid (Faze Action Afrotronic Re-Rub))  
Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast – “Oceanic” (folkie, J.Buckley-ish)
Faunts – “Memories of Places We’ve Never Been” , “M4 (Partt.1)” (synth-gazer)
Castaneda – “Pixels” (DCFC with balls)
The Ruby Suns – “Tane Mahuta” (Disney soundtrack meets Vampire Weekend-covering Paul Simon)
Excepter – “Kill People” (don’t worry, I don’t get it either)
The Epochs – “Opposite Sides” (sample-filled indie (trip)-pop with falsetto vocals)

The Mountain Goats are NOT playing at SXSW

It’s that time of year, where seemingly every band announcing tour dates has a stop (or four) in Austin scheduled for SXSW week in mid-March. And for bands that don’t have tour dates listed during mid-March, well, they are ripe for SXSW rumor fodder. So, for those keep scorecards at home, The Mountain Goats have released tour dates in conjunction with the release of ‘Heretic Pride’ (out on Feb.19 on 4AD) and will be forgoing Austin in favor of touring the East Coast (multiple dates in Boston and New York that week).

DOWNLOAD: “Sax Rohmer #1”

February
19 – Anchorage, AK
22 – Vancouver, BC, Richard’s on Richards
23 – Seattle, WA, Neumos
25 – Portland, OR, Doug Fir
26 – Portland, OR, Doug Fir
27 – Eugene, OR, WOW Hall
29 – San Francisco, CA, Bimbo’s

March
1 – San Francisco, CA, the Independent
2 – San Francisco, CA, Bottom of the Hill (matinee)
4 – Los Angeles, CA, the Troubadour
5 – Los Angeles, CA, the Troubadour
13 – Northampton, MA, Pearl Street
14 – Boston, MA, Museum of Fine Arts
15 – Boston, MA, The Middle East
18 – New York, NY, Webster Hall
19 – Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
20 – Philadelphia, PA, First Unitarian
22 – Washington, DC The Black Cat

Tour: The Dollyrots / Suffrajett

Kelly of The Dollyrots hinted at this tour pairing in December when her band played a radio-station sponsored gig in Columbus. I’ve been a fan of Suffrajett since they were named Simi (after their lead singer) and even caught a CMJ gig when they were going by the name Cherry (thanks to Wes Kidd for introducing me to their music). They’ve been using the name Suffrajett for a few years now, ever since their move from New York to Chicago and have been wowing audiences coast to coast both as headliners and as support for acts ranging from Local H to MC5 to Juliette & the Licks.

If ever there has been a 100% Atomic Ned approved double bill, this is it (The Dollyrots ‘Because I’m Awesome’ landed at #2 on my “Favorites of 2007” list). Because both bands have toured pretty heavily in Columbus, I kind of thought the tour wouldn’t land in Ohio’s capital city, but thanks to Chris Wood and the Ravari Room, this bill is not only playing in Columbus, but on a Friday night! Check back for more coverage – definitely a concert review and maybe an interview or two.

MySpace: Suffrajett
MySpace: The Dollyrots

Jan 22 Launchpad – Alburquerque, New Mexico
Jan 24 The Unity Center – Roswell, New Mexico
Jan 25 Bennigan’s – El Paso, Texas
Jan 26 Rock Bottom – San Antonio, Texas
Jan 27 Venue TBA – Houston, Texas
Jan 28 Grant Street Dance Hall – Lafayette, Louisiana
Jan 29 Keystones Lounge – Metairie, Louisiana
Feb 1 Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, Florida
Feb 2 The Social – Orlando, Florida
Feb 3 1982 – Gainsville, Florida
Feb 4 Beta Bar – Tallahassee, Florida
Feb 8 The Nick – Birmingham, Alabama
Feb 12 IOTA Cafe – Arlington, Virginia
Feb 14 Asbury Lanes – Asbury Park, New Jersey
Feb 18 ITAM Lodge – Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Feb 19 TT The Bear’s – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feb 20 Diesel NightClub – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 22 Ravari Room – Columbus, Ohio
Feb 23 Peabody’s – Cleveland, Ohio
Feb 25 Frankie’s Innercity – Toledo, Ohio
Feb 28 The Note – Chicago, Illinois
Mar 3 Triple Rock – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Mar 4 The Reverb – Cedar Falls, Iowa

Videos by both bands after the jump.

Continue reading “Tour: The Dollyrots / Suffrajett”

Tour: Queensryche / Don Dokken

The second interview I ever did was with Queensryche guitarist Michael Wilton back in 1990 when the band was touring to support ‘Empire’. Believe it or not, Suicidal Tendencies opened that leg of the tour.

A few days ago I had the opportunity to speak with Queensryche singer Geoff Tate about the band’s 2007 releases (a greatest hits compilation and a covers album), their past/present/future, and why Don Dokken was chosen to open the tour. The interview will be in the March issue of ENVY magazine which is available exclusively in Houston and Dallas. Once the issue is no longer on newsstands, I’ll toss it up, in it’s entirety here. In the meantime, here’s what Tate had to say about Don Dokken.

“Last year, my two guitar players and I did a benefit show in Los Angeles and on the bill was Don Dokken solo. He had this real interesting act. It’s just him, an acoustic guitar, and a martini. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s metal meets Las Vegas, the Rat Pack kind of thing. He’ll be playing a song, stop halfway through, starting telling a story, have a drink and a smoke and then get back to the song. It’s really different. I just really like Don a lot, he’s quite a character. I called him up and said, ‘Why don’t you do this tour with us? It’s not a big, heavy theatrical show. It’s going to be a fun evening and I think your act will really fit well in this.’ He said, ‘Well, gosh, I don’t know. I haven’t been feeling well lately.’ He goes into this long list of medical problems he’s had. He’s always got something wrong with him. Every time I see him, he’s got band-aids on. I just find him to be charming.”

You can catch Don Dokken opening for Queensryche on the following dates:

Jan. 23 – Fillmore – Denver, CO
Jan. 25 – Harrah’s – Kansas City, MO
Jan. 26 – Myth – St. Paul, MN
Jan. 27 – Northern Lights – Walker, MN
Jan. 29 – Potawatomi – Milwaukee, WI
Jan. 30 – Potawatomi – Milwaukee, WI
Jan. 31 – Potawatomi – Milwaukee, WI
Feb. 01 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL
Feb. 02 – House of Blues – Chicago, IL
Feb. 05 – Turning Stone – Verona, NY
Feb. 06 – The Roxy – Boston, MA
Feb. 07 – Starland – Sayreville, NJ
Feb. 08 – Nokia – New York, NY
Feb. 09 – Tropicana – Atlantic City, NJ
Feb. 10 – House of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC
Feb. 12 – Tampa Theater – Tampa, FL
Feb. 13 – House of Blues – Orlando, FL
Feb. 14 – House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
Feb. 15 – Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
Feb. 16 – Palladium – Dallas, TX
Feb. 19 – The Depot – Salt Lake City, UT
Feb. 24 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA
Feb. 28 – Newmark – Portland, OR
Feb. 29 – Big Easy – Spokane, WA
Mar. 01 – Paramount – Seattle, WA