J Mascis on Meeting Simon LeBon

Last week during SXSW 2011 (photos here) I went to see Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis play a solo show at the Red 7 Patio. He was amazing, as usual, and this time included sampling his own guitar parts for later use, layering them into songs on the fly. I've seen others do that before, but seeing a fellow with long gray hair and granny glasses do it? Outstanding! Anyway, besides the terrific performance, J also told a story about having recently met Duran Duran front man Simon LeBon a couple of days earlier. Take it away, J:

The other day I did this interview that Sub Pop set up. When it was done I got up off the couch and some guy comes up to me and shakes my hand and says, "Hi, I'm Simon from Duran Duran." He looked at me, waiting for me to say something, but I just kinda looked at him. I didn't have anything to say. So I just kinda walked away. I guess that's why some people think I'm a dick.

Gotta love the guy. He may be one of the more socially awkward rock stars in the history of the world, but at least he's aware of it and owns it.

Select SXSW 2011 photos here, and the whole big batch here.

SXSW Announces Partial Lineup

I'm not sure what The 2009 South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) will be like, but it certainly won't be as busy and crowded and overflowing with bands as in previous years. In the face of a teetering economy looking frighteningly ready to to a Humpty Dumpty, many people have less money and job security, making it more difficult to take off the time required to make the trek to Texas. This is especially true for bands who mainly have to travel by auto, and who need to play in cities and towns along the way. No doubt many music lovering SXSW regulars will choose to sit this one out and catch bands when they come through their towns instead of trekking hundreds or thousands of miles to wander around the amazing scene that is 6th Street, Austin, during SXSW. Did I ever tell you that during festivals past walking along 6th street I ran into Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)? J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.)? Kim Deal (The Breeders/Pixies)? The list goes on.

The music portion of this, the 23rd edition of the festival, is cheduled for March 18 - 22, and organizers have announced the first round of bands selected to perform out of over 10,000 music applications. Of the 136 listed, the ones I'm most excited about are:

Akron/Family (Williamsport, PA)
Blaqstarr (Baltimore, MD)
Chris T-T (Brighton, ENGLAND)
Crystal Stilts (New York, NY)
Explosions in the Sky (Austin, TX)
Kid Sister (Chicago, IL)
Peter Bjorn & John (Stockholm, Sweden)
Port O'Brien (Cambria, CA)
Primal Scream (Glasgow, Scotland)
Ra Ra Riot (Syracuse, NY)
Tittsworth (Washington, DC)
White Lies (London, ENGLAND)

Check out the full list here.

"480 Minutes" - SXSW rocked!

So glad I overcame my unwillingness to ask for help getting to South By Southwest (aka SXSW, aka South-bye) -- there were some incredible performances, we got to meet some really cool people, we were serenaded by R.E.M. while having a bite at Stubb's BBQ (it was their sound check), and we even got to spend several hours with John Doe of X (he tried a bite of my snapper dish at dinner!). I personally also got to see X (twice), John Doe solo, The Wombats, a band from Tel Aviv, Israel, called Monotonix (first time in twenty years I felt in danger of bodily harm throughout the set -- with the threat being the band members themselves...'twas exhilarating!), The Wedding Present, Birdmonster, Okkervil River, The Heavy, Gentleman Auction House, Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters, Frightened Rabbit, Ravens and Chimes, The Raveonettes (kinda sorta twice), and Vampire Weekend (amongst others!) . Thanks again to everyone who donated to the "send BAGeL Radio to South By Southwest" fund drive, none of that would have happened without your generous support.

Today's "480 Minutes" show will feature new songs from Clinic (Liverpool, UK), Colour Revolt (Oxford, MS), Plants And Animals (Montreal, Canada), Finn Riggins (Hailey, ID), Twin Tigers (Athens, GA), Lemuria (Buffalo, NY), Whitey On The Moon (San Francisco, CA), Billy Bragg (Bridport, UK), The Young Werewolves (Philadelphia, PA), The Ting Tings (Salford, UK), Peter Morén (of Peter Bjorn and John, Stockholm, Sweden), Head of Femur (Chicago, IL), Voyager One (Seattle, WA), Ghosty (Lawrence, KS), Man Man (Philadelphia, PA), and LCD Soundsystem (New York, NY).

Please tune in to "480 Minutes" today and every Friday. The show runs live from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time, the is rebroadcast starting at 7pm, then twice more on Saturday. On Saturday night at midnight we return to regular BAGeL Radio programming.

Reach out and e-touch me during the show via:

e-mail: feedback@bagelradio.com
Yahoo IM: bagelradio
AOL/iChat: bagelradiolive
MSN Msgr: bagelradio@hotmail.com
GoogleTalk: bagelradio@gmail.com

or send an instant message directly through the BAGeL Radio site on the bottom right of the window where is says "click here to chat."

Recent photos:


John Doe


Swaby of The Heavy


Monotonix


Misty with Birdmonster (and Kit)


Jad Fair of Half Japanese


Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters


Matthew of The Wombats (with Cherub The Wombat)


Elephone

SXSW 2008 Collection.
SXSW 2008 Sample Set.

Upcoming Bay Area Gigs of Interest:

* Evangelicals/ Headlights @ The Hemlock Tavern 3/21
The Cliks/ Ex-Boyfriends/ Lipstick Conspiracy @ The Hotel Utah 3/21
Loquat/ The Prids/ Black Kites @ Cafe du Nord 3/21
Explosions In The Sky @ Great American Music Hall 3/21 & 22
Bob Mould @ Great American Music Hall 3/26
Bell X1 @ Cafe du Nord 3/26
Ministry @ The Fillmore 4/1 & 4/2
Cribs @ Popscene 4/3

* Les Sans Culottes/ The Cuban Cowboys/ The Gun & Doll Show @ Cafe du Nord 4/8
Enon @ Bottom of the Hill 4/13

BAGeL Radio Presents... buy tickets here!

#** Handsome Furs/ Aria C. Jalali @ Bottom of the Hil 4/15

* = I'm there
** = I'm DJing

# = win tickets during "480 Minutes"

more upcoming shows

Reminder: there's a new start date for my Blogs, Podcasts, and Internet Radio, at San Francisco State University's College of Extended Learning: April 5th. The class meets Saturdays at the downtown SFSU campus , and you can sign up right now for the Spring semester, first meeting on 4/5/08.

SXSW 2008 Photos

SXSW 2008 Day 1.
SXSW 2008 Day 2.
SXSW 2008 Day 3.
SXSW 2008 Day 4.
SXSW 2008 Collection.
SXSW 2008 Sample Set.

Bands photographed include: Chikita Violenta/ The Mae Shi/ Panther/ The Wedding Present/ The Black & White Years/ Jeffrey Lewis and the Jitters/ Frightened Rabbit/ Cathy Davey/ Birdmonster/ The Hard Lessons/ The Birds of Avalon/ Monotonix/ Lou Reed and Moby/ Working For A Nuclear Free City/ Hot Springs/ Ungdomskulen/ The Wombats/ Birdmonster (hanging)/ The Raveonettes/ Vampire Weekend/ X @ Stubb's/ Carbon-Silicon/ Ravens And Chimes/ Gentleman Auction House/ Capgun Coup/ Aloha/ Half Japanese/ John Doe/ X @ Emo's/ Elephone/ Okkervil River/ LoveLikeFire/ Blitzen Trapper/ The Heavy

Enjoy!

"480 Minutes" - New Bauhaus!

Thanks to everyone who has donated to the "send BAGeL Radio to South By Southwest" fund drive. I am overwhelmed by your generosity and the sentiments that have accompanied the donations. It gives me the warm fuzzies to hear that BAGeL Radio means so much to so many of you. Before the tears well up, let's move on along, shall we?

Many thanks to LoveLikeFire for their awesome intimate mini-set during The Rumble at Harlot last night. They were great. Speaking of great, guest DJ AmpLive, took the reigns after the live rock and showed this DJ how it's done. He was phenomenal. I'd also like to give a shout out to the other sponsors of the event including The Owl Mag, Tankfarm Futuresounds, and SonicLiving, who have all played a big part in making The Rumble one of the coolest recurring events I have ever had the pleasure of being involved in.

Today's "480 Minutes" show will feature new songs from Bauhaus (Northampton, England), The Heavy (?, England), The Heavy Hearts (Seattle, WA), Stella Royale (San Francisco, CA), Evangelicals (Norman, OK), Mostly Bears (Tucson, AZ), Pills & Jackets (San Francisco, CA), She & Him (US), Don Cavalli (Ile-de-France, France), Big Dipper (Boston, MA, retrospective), Joseph Arthur (Brooklyn, NY), The Matinees (San Franisco, CA, not new, but new to me!),
The Presidents Of The United States Of America (Seattle, WA), Destroyer (Vancouver, BC), The Black Hollies (Jersey City, NJ), Tokyo Decadence (Oakland, CA), Crystal Castles (St. Helena, CA), and Prince Fatty (UK).

Please tune in to "480 Minutes" today and every Friday. The show is live from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

Reach out and e-touch me during the show via:

e-mail: feedback@bagelradio.com
Yahoo IM: bagelradio
AOL/iChat: bagelradiolive
MSN Msgr: bagelradio@hotmail.com
GoogleTalk: bagelradio@gmail.com

or send an instant message directly through the BAGeL Radio site on the bottom right of the window where is says "click here to chat."

Recent photos:
My Noise Pop Gig Photos (collection)


The Mountain Goats


Tilly and The Wall


Capgun Coup


Tally Hall


Little Teeth


The Rosebuds


Working For A Nuclear Free City (first U.S. show)


Foxtail Somersault


Quasi


The Little Ones

Upcoming Bay Area Gigs of Interest:

Travis Morrison/ Facing New York/ Social Studies @ Rickshaw Stop 3/20
* Evangelicals/ Headlights @ The Hemlock Tavern 3/21
Loquat/ The Prids/ Black Kites @ Cafe du Nord 3/21
Explosions In The Sky @ Great American Music Hall 3/21 & 22
Bob Mould @ Great American Music Hall 3/26
Bell X1 @ Cafe du Nord 3/26
Ministry @ The Fillmore 4/1 & 4/2
Cribs @ Popscene 4/3

* Les Sans Culottes/ The Cuban Cowboys/ The Gun & Doll Show @ Cafe du Nord 4/8
Enon @ Bottom of the Hill 4/13

BAGeL Radio Presents... buy tickets here!

#** Handsome Furs/ Aria C. Jalali @ Bottom of the Hil 4/15

* = I'm there
** = I'm DJing

# = win tickets during "480 Minutes"

more upcoming shows

Reminder: there's a new start date for my Blogs, Podcasts, and Internet Radio, at San Francisco State University's College of Extended Learning: April 5th. The class meets Saturdays at the downtown SFSU campus , and you can sign up right now for the Spring semester, first meeting on 4/5/08.

It's Nice Having Friends

From my friend Willo:

So, I don't normally send out requests of this nature, but this is an urgent issue and I could really use your help!

I think you all know what a huge music fan I am, and chances are at some point I've told you about a band I'm loving or a new album I can't stop listening to... and hopefully through my passion, I've been able to turn you on to some great new music, too! Well, I owe SO much of this to my friend Ted & his awesome online radio station, BAGeL Radio.

A few days ago Misty (Ted's wife) broke the news to us that Ted wasn't going to be able to go to SXSW this year, and honestly the first thing I thought was: UNACCEPTABLE! (If you're not familiar with SXSW, it stands for South by Southwest, and it's THE music festival of the year in Austin, TX. And it commences next Wednesday, March 12th - hence the urgency!).

I thought, you've got to be kidding me, Ted has done SO much for all of us over the last five years.... and by 'us' I mean everyone from the music community, to friends and listeners around the world... that surely if we all just pitch in a little bit, we can get him there!

I could go on in terms of all that Ted has done, i.e. what a powerful voice he's been in continuing the effort for internet radio freedom (i.e. ensuring we're not stuck with only Clear Channel stations the rest of our lives), but suffice to say, he's amazing, and he deserves every little bit of support we can offer him! So I ask you, please, please take a minute to just give even a little bit (or a lot) & help us in the effort to get get BAGeL Radio Ted to SXSW this year!

Thank you in advance... and if you would, please spread the word as time is of the essence! We can do this! :)
xo
w

p.s. If you donate and would like to demand I make you a mixed CD and/or that I send you a list of my favorite bands of the moment every month for the next year or something, I will totally do that! Anything to get our man Ted to SXSW, because guess what? He will be the one who turns me on to my future bands of the moment that I therein turn you on to! It's a win win! :)

Hear Willo's audio plea here.