Springsteen Tour Dates

Springsteen's new single "Radio Nowhere" went up on iTunes today. The new album "Magic" comes out October 2nd.

They've announced dates for a fall tour to support the record.

Here is the itinerary for the Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band tour:

Oct. 2: Hartford, Conn., Civic Center
Oct. 5: Philadelphia, Wachovia Center
Oct. 9-10: East Rutherford, N.J., Continental Airlines Arena
Oct. 14: Ottawa, Ontario, Civic Centre
Oct. 15: Toronto, Air Canada Centre
Oct. 17-18: New York, Madison Square Garden
Oct. 21: Chicago, United Center
Oct. 26: Oakland, Calif., Oracle Arena
Oct. 28: Los Angeles, TBA
Nov. 2: St. Paul, Minn., Xcel Energy Center
Nov. 4: Cleveland, Quicken Loans Arena
Nov. 5: Auburn Hills, Mich., Palace of Auburn Hills
Nov. 11: Washington, D.C., Verizon Arena
Nov. 14: Pittsburgh, Mellon Arena
Nov. 15: Albany, N.Y., Times Union Center
Nov. 18: Boston, TD Banknorth Garden
Nov. 25: Madrid, Palacio De Deportes
Nov. 26: Bilbao, Spain, Exhibition Centre
Nov. 28: Milan, Datchforum
Nov. 30: Arnhem, Holland, Geldredome
Dec. 2: Mannheim, Germany, Sap Arena
Dec. 4: Oslo, Spektrum
Dec. 8: Copenhagen, Forum
Dec. 10: Stockholm, Globe
Dec. 12: Antwerp, Belgium, Sportspaleis
Dec. 13: Cologne, Germany, Koln Arena
Dec. 15: Belfast, Odyssey Arena
Dec. 17: Paris, Palais Omnsiports De Bercy
Dec. 19: London, O2 Arena

if you haven't seen it yet,

I just want to encourage everyone out there to check out Trapped in the Closet by R.Kelly. If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a sort of r&b soap opera.

Each episode is only a few minutes long. It's totally worth watching the whole thing. Episodes 13-22 came out pretty recently, and man, there are some crazy plot twists.

This stuff is insane. How anybody could give this man money to make this is just utterly beyond me. But, man, are we lucky that someone did.

R.Kelly's brain farted. And that fart was Trapped in the Closet.

pigeon john is criminally under-recognized.

just saying, is all.

pigeonjohn.com
myspace/pigeonjohn

unpretentious indie rock is still possible?

Rhode Island indie rockers The Jena Campaign released their second album "A Panda for Amanda" a few months ago on Nobody's Favorite Records to little fanfare or acclaim. And that's cool. Because The Jena Campaign isn't pretentious. No, they're just a breath of fresh air.

In a scene plauged by college freshman trying to recreate the sickly overproduced sound of The Dresden Dolls, The Jena Campaign is simply making music. It's not genius. It's not album of the year material. But it's solid songwriting with no frills. And it seems like that's becoming an anomoly these days.

It seems like "rock & roll" doesn't mean anything anymore, and "indie rock" means even less. But "Panda" is just that: a straightforward indie rock record. The comparisons are obvious and generally in the vein of Pedro the Lion or Pavement, but the album certainly has its moments where a Buffalo Springfield comparison would be appropriate, too. And it leaves the listener wondering if they're listening to rock and roll, folk, slowcore, folk rock, alt.country, or indie rock. Kind of like that one folk band from Portland did in the late 90's.

It kicks off with "You Stole My Car and Then You Stole My Heart," and by the time the drums kick in at the second verse, you're hooked. It's a great blend of banjo, mandolin, guitars, and lovely female harmonies. And that blend is pretty consistent through the whole record.

Aside from the first track which is great, the high points include the irritatingly catchiness and singalongability of "A Born-Again Christian upon Reading The DaVinci Code," the Simon and Garfunkel-esque harmonies of "Our Weekend in Kansas" the title track, and "Cheyenne Skyline."

The second half of the album drags a bit, but certainly never gets boring. And even the slower parts have their moments. None of the songs feel like they were just included to fill up time, a big step forward from their first album.

So, kudos to The Jena Campaign for making a solid, straightforward rock and roll record. Its consistency is applaudable. Its simple production is a relief. Its catchiness keeps me humming it to myself. It's been in my CD player for like a week straight. Thanks, guys.

Hello!

My name is Tim and i'll be contributing to this blog regularly. Let's get things rolling...

Music News:

Cincinnati, Ohio shoegazer band POMEGRANATES, on LUJO RECORDS, has completed their first tour. You can get their independently-released debut CD EP on their site. A full-length is forthcoming.

US black metal label E.E.E. RECORDS, from Illinois, known for releasing critically-acclaimed projects combining both post-rock and black metal, was burgalarized recently of a lot of items needed for running their label and recording their projects. Thankfully, they still have their CD stock on-hand. When they'll be able to fulfill order requests and release albums again is anybody's guess, but I'm really looking forward to that.

It's quite rare that Christians make black metal and these guys have been pumping out the highest-quality "unblack" or "white metal" that I've heard so far. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that's only if you actually care about the lyrical content of your music. And seriously, black metal isn't exactly a scene deserving of much respect, so whatever...

The two-piece 15-year punk/metal veterans known as CROATAN, also from Cincinnati, OH, have returned with one of their best efforts to date. A mix of black metal, grindcore, and other genres, their recently released album There Can Be Only Two, on Laguna Sunburn Records is definitely worth picking up. The lyrics cover such topics as the Bush Administration, the generic metalcore sweeping the world, and problems within their local metal scene.

The up-and coming Doom/sludge/drone band known as BENEATH OBLIVION, also from Cincinnati, OH, are currently on a tour of the Northeastern US and have a highly-limited cassette coming up soon. Not to mention a 10" vinyl release with Sin of Angels. Be sure to pick up both of them and catch them on tour if you're in the area.

Albums you should check out:

Orthodox/Gran Poder - Southern Lord Records
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club/Baby 81 - RCA/Island UK
Massgrav & Diskonto/A Blaze in the Northern Sky (Split Album) - Sound Pollution
Torche/Torche - Robotic Empire Records
All Things Bright and Beautiful/Love and Affection - Northern Records
Melk the G6-49/Glossolia - Joyful Noise Records
Child Bite/Gold Thriller - Suburban Sprawl/Joyful Noise Records
Light Shall Prevail (RIP)/Defeat the Reign of the Horned One Through the Light of Christ - E.E.E. Recordings/Gud Er Sannhet Records