I place the blame for this squarely on Archerr. He told me to.

Anybody that knows me (or even halfway knows me) learns quickly that my favorite movie is “Short Cuts.” Released in 1993 (after the success “The Player”), this movie is Robert Altman’s masterpiece. Altman and a cast of extraordinary actors wind their way through nine tales loosely adapted from the writings of Raymond Carver. Critics often say that the movie is a jazz variation of Carver’s writings. The movie contains a downbeat jazz soundtrack propelled by Annie Ross (who plays Tess Trainer, the regular singer at The Low Note jazz club). The songs that are sung by Ross in the movie are notable because they aren’t your typical standards. Songs for the movie where written by such folks as Doc Pompus and Dr. John, Edge and Bono, Gavin Friday and Pop. My favorite contribution to the movie comes from Elvis Costello and Cait O’Riordan. Enjoy.
Annie Ross and the Low Note Quintet – Punishing Kiss [3 MB]~

I really think that I need to buy myself an iPod for Christmas.

There is also a “remastered” and “expanded” edition out of Nine Inch Nails “The Downward Spiral.” A great album of mid-90’s isolation and hatred. A lot of folks think of this as Reznor’s masterpiece, but I prefer “The Fragile” which is a little more balanced and not quite so intense. Check out the link which takes you to a mini-site with album info, downloads and song samples. The wallpapers are particularly sweet.~

If you are a fan of The Cure, the newly released “remastered” and “expanded” edition of their first album “Three Imaginary Boys” is a must purchase. The main album itself sounds better than it ever has. But, the main attraction is the second disc of rare album tracks and demos. The enclosed 16-page booklet is a major disappointment though. It offers no new insights on the bands formative years. If anything, Robert Smith comes off as a total ass talking about Lol Turhurst’s “inept” drumming and bad mouthing tracks co-written with Tolhurst. So, you all had a fight? Get over it and don’t dismiss his contribution to the band’s early days. Smith even takes a shot or two at producer Chris Parry. Grrrr. So … Go. Buy. Now. And take a trip back to the formative years of 80’s gloom and doom music (and just ignore that pesky front man’s current comments). Whoo!

I went in the local music store on Wednesday with every intention of buying the new U2 album … but I walked out with the Nirvana “With the Lights” Box Set instead. God. What a sap I am for cool packing (and raucous music).

“The long-awaited Nirvana box set ‘WITH THE LIGHTS OUT’ will feature 68 previously unreleased recordings. Released on November 23, the four-disc set will feature 81 tracks including 68 previously unreleased recordings – rehearsals, outtakes, Kurt’s home demos, as well as a DVD which is confirmed to have unreleased band home movies, live footage, rehearsal footage and 20 full-length video performances. A 60-page booklet will accompany the release.”

CD 1
01. Heartbreaker (1987)
02. Anorexorcist (1987)
03. White Lace and Strange (1987)
04. Help Me, I’m Hungry (1987)
05. Mrs. Butterworth (1988)
06. If You Must (1988)
07. Pen Cap Chew (1988)
08. Downer (1988)
09. Floyd The Barber (1988)
10. Raunchola (1988)
11. Moby Dick (1988)
12. Beans (undated)
13. Don’t Want It All (undated)
14. Clean Up Before She Comes (undated)
15. Polly (solo – 1988)
16. About A Girl (1988)
17. Blandest (1988)
18. Dive (1988)
19. They Hung Him On A Cross (Leadbelly cover – 1989)
20. Grey Goose (Leadbelly cover – 1989)
21. Ain’t It A Shame (Leadbelly cover – 1989)
22. Token Eastern Song (1989)
23. Even In His Youth (1989)
24. Polly (1989)

CD 2
01. Opinion (1990)
02. Lithium (1990)
03. Been A Son (1990)
04. Sliver (1990)
05. Where Did You Sleep Last Night (1989)
06. Pay To Play (1989)
07. Here She Comes Now (1990)
08. Drain You (1990)
09. Aneurysm (1990)
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit (demo – 1991)
11. Breed (1991)
12. Verse Chorus Verse (1991)
13. Old Age (1991)
14. Endless, Nameless (1991)
15. Dumb (1991)
16. D-7 (Wipers cover – 1990)
17. Oh, The Guilt (1992)
18. Curmudgeon (1992)
19. Return of the Rat (Wipers cover – 1992)
20. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Butch Vig Mix – 1991)

CD 3
01. Rape Me (solo acoustic – 1992)
02. Rape Me (electric – 1992)
03. Scentless Apprentice (1992)
04. Heart Shaped Box (1993)
05. I Hate Myself and Want to Die (1993)
06. Milk It (1993)
07. Moist Vagina (1993)
08. Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip (1993)
09. The Other Improv (1993)
10. Serve The Servants (1993)
11. Very Ape (1993)
12. Pennyroyal Tea (1993)
13. Marigold (1993)
14. Sappy (1993)
15. Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For a Sunbeam (1994)
16. Do Re Mi (1994)
17. You Know You’re Right (1994)
18. All Apologies (undated)

DVD
01. Love Buzz (house party – 1988)
02. Scoff (house party – 1988)
03. About A Girl (house party – 1988)
04. Big Long Now (house party – 1988)
05. Immigrant Song (house party – 1988)
06. Spank Thru (house party – 1988)
07. Hairspray Queen (house party – 1988)
08. School (house party – 1988)
09. Mr. Moustache (house party – 1988)
10. Big Cheese (1989)
11. In Bloom (1989)
12. Sappy (1990)
13. School (1990)
14. Love Buzz (1990)
15. Pennyroyal Tea (1991)
16. Smells like Teen Spirit (1991)
17. Territorial Pissings (1991)
18. Jesus Doesn’t Want Me For A Sunbeam (1991)
19. Talk To Me (1992)
20. Seasons In The Sun (1993)

This news makes me happier than the announcement of The Cure’s B-Side Box Set. Whoo!

Ultimate Siouxsie and the Banshees B-Sides Collection. Includes 55 tracks, 34 on CD for the first time, a 76 page booklet with an introduction by Siouxsie plus a track annotation by Sioux, Steven Severin, and Budgie.

Tracks 1-6 on Disc Two are from the Hyaena sessions when Robert Smith of The Cure was an official member of the band. One of those tracks, Tattoo, is very reminiscent of The Creatures.

Like many of SATB’s B-Sides, Something Wicked (This Way Comes) and Are You Still Dying Darling? are arguably better songs than the ones found on the album they were left off of.

No news yet of a domestic release.

Disc 1
1. Voices
2. 20th Century Boy
3. Pulled To Bits
4. Mettagiesen (Metal Postcard)
5. Drop Dead Celebration
6. Eve White Eve Black
7. Red Over White
8. Follow The Sun
9. Snap Dash Snap
10. Supernatural Thing
11. Congo Conga
12. Coal Mind
13. We Fall
14. Cannibal Roses
15. Obsession II
16. A Sleeping Rain
17. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant

Disc 2
1. Tattoo
2. There’s A Planet In My Kitchen
3. Let Go
4. The Humming Wires
5. I Promise
6. Throw Them To The Lions
7. The Execution
8. The Quarterdrawing Of The Dog
9. Lullaby
10. Umbrella
11. Shooting Sun
12. Sleepwalking (On High Wire)
13. She Cracked
14. She’s A Cuckoo
15. Something Blue
16. The Whole Price Of Blood
17. Mechanical Eyes

Disc 3
1. False Face
2. Catwalk
3. Something Wicked (This Way Comes)
4. Are You Still Dying Darling?
5. El Dia De Los Muertos
6. Sunless
7. Staring Back
8. Return
9. Spiral Twist
10. Sea Of Light
11. I Could Be Again
12. Hothead
13. B Side Ourselves
14. Swimming Horses
15. All Tomorrows Parties
16. Hang Me High
17. Black Sun

Disc 4
1. Overground
2. Voices
3. Placebo Effect
4. Red Over White

“MY DEATHBIRD is Not DEAD.
HE CARRIES ALL MY TEETH: MY SMILE OF UNFORGETFULNESS, MY LAUGH!

VRYKOLAKA!

I am the man unburied who CANNOT sleep IN FORTY PIECES!!!!!

I am the girl, dismembered and unblessed,

I am the open mouth that drags your flesh and will never rest until
MY DEATH IS WRITTEN IN A ROCK THAT CAN NOT BE BROKEN!”

And these are the orders from The Dead.
Diamanda Galas – Orders from the Dead [10.6 MB]~

WHO NEEDS FLU SHOTS WHEN RHINO HAS THE CURE!

Highly Anticipated Cure Reissue Campaign Begins With Expanded, Remastered THREE IMAGINARY BOYS December 7th.

LOS ANGELES – Twenty-five years after The Cure began their global pop invasion with their debut disc, THREE IMAGINARY BOYS, Rhino Records gives the album its first-ever U.S. domestic release with a deluxe two-disc edition loaded with previously unreleased tracks. THREE IMAGINARY BOYS will be available December 7 at all retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested retail price of $18.98.

The album marks the kickoff to Rhino Records’ revitalization of The Cure catalog. Each title will receive a sonic upgrade and be released as a deluxe double-disc set featuring the original album on one CD and numerous rarities on the other. In addition, each release will come with a 16-page booklet filled with photos and tour memorabilia from the personal archives of vocalist Robert Smith, as well as a track-by-track commentary and notes by U.K. music scribe Johnny Black.

Cure fans have long clamored for THREE IMAGINARY BOYS, an energetic 1979 U.K. debut which features “10:15 Saturday Night,” “Grinding Halt,” “Fire In Cairo,” and a quirky rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady.” The band’s debut U.S. album, Boys Don’t Cry, featured many of the songs on THREE IMAGINARY BOYS along with singles like “Jumping Someone Else’s Train” and “Boys Don’t Cry.” The Rhino reissue offers the original U.K. album with an added previously unreleased instrumental (“The Weedy Burton”), as well as a 20-track bonus disc which includes the additional tracks from Boys Don’t Cry, previously unreleased studio and home demo versions, live renditions, and other curiosities. In total the package includes six previously unreleased songs, eight previously unreleased versions of songs, and 17 tracks never before available on CD.

Johnny Black’s liner notes, which make use of extensive and exclusive interviews with Robert Smith, provide fascinating insight into the making of this classic album. One interesting story tells how The Cure managed to get the album recorded with virtually no budget: they simply snuck into Morgan Studios at night once the Jam had finished their sessions, and, using the Jam’s gear, recorded through the night till dawn.

It’s been almost three decades since a 17-year-old Smith formed The Easy Cure in Crawley, England. Despite various lineup changes, The Cure have forged an ongoing career highlighted by an astonishing run of artistic and commercial successes, including chart-topping hit singles, gold and platinum records, countless awards, critical acclaim, and an international fan base that follows the band with religious fervor. They have secured their place in music history by shaping modern rock as we know it today.

#####

THREE IMAGINARY BOYS

DISC ONE
1. 10:15 Saturday Night
2. Accuracy
3. Grinding Halt
4. Another Day
5. Object
6. Subway Song
7. Foxy Lady
8. Meathook
9. So What
10. Fire In Cairo
11. It’s Not You
12. Three Imaginary Boys
13. The Weedy Burton *

DISC TWO
1. I Want To Be Old (SAV Studio Demo 10/77) *
2. I’m Cold (SAV Studio Demo 11/77) **
3. Heroin Face (Live In The Rocket 12/77)
4. I Just Need Myself (PSL Studio Demo 1/78) *
5. 10:15 Saturday Night (Home Demo 2/78) **
6. The Cocktail Party (Group Home Demo 3/78) *
7. Grinding Halt (Group Home Demo 4/78) **
8. Boys Don’t Cry (Chestnut Studio Demo 5/78)
9. It’s Not You (Chestnut Studio Demo 5/78) **
10. 10:15 Saturday Night (Chestnut Studio Demo 5/78) **
11. Fire In Cairo (Chestnut Studio Demo 5/78) **
12. Winter (THREE IMAGINARY BOYS Studio Out-Take Cassette 10/78) *
13. Faded Smiles (aka I Don’t Know) (THREE IMAGINARY BOYS Studio Out-Take
Cassette 10/78) *
14. Play With Me (THREE IMAGINARY BOYS Studio Out-Take Cassette 10/78) *
15. World War (on early copies of BOYS DON’T CRY album 1979)
16. Boys Don’t Cry (Single‹also on BOYS DON’T CRY album 1979)
17. Jumping Someone Else’s Train (Single-also on BOYS DON’T CRY album 1979)
18. Subway Song (Live In Nottingham 10/79)
19. Accuracy (Live In Nottingham 10/79) **
20. 10:15 Saturday Night (Live In Nottingham 10/79) **

* Previously Unreleased Song/Instrumental
** Previously Unreleased Version~

Just how great was the Concrete Blonde show last night? Words can’t even begin to describe it. Johnette Napolitano is a goddess. I want to have her children.

After the show I got to chatting with the attractive couple (guy and gal) next to me (see I do actually talk to strangers in public). The boyfriend was very drunk and cute. He was so happy to have seen the band play. It’s his birthday today, so he had been celebrating. When I informed them that my birthday was Wednesday, the girlfriend hugged me a gave be a big ole smooch. She said all birthday boys got hugs and kisses. I guess you gotta take it where you can get it.