Lots of interesting re-releases/best-ofs this week: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Anvil, The Stooges and Nirvana. Notice that I left out Pink Floyd. Don’t worry, I’m prepared to get nuked in the comments.

Worthwhile new stuff includes Mastodon, Rwake, Arthur Russell, Wilco and the CD release of The Mindeater from Bonnie “Prince” Billy and The Phantom Family Halo. (Note to Travis Lee: I am still planning to mail that to you. Sorry for being a bum.)

Also, let me know if the new Bill Frisell, Spank Rock, Craig Wedren, Dum Dum Girls or Blink-182 records are worth checking out. Just kidding on that last one. I know it’s top of the pops.

See this week’s new releases.

Summer is all about good weather and good music. And no other band will embody the summer feel than Seapony. Hailing from the great music mecca of Seattle, this dreamy surf-pop sound is sure to be found on any quality summer mix.

But don’t be so quick to lump this band into one season. Seapony will certainly be a vital part of music for the quite a few seasons to come.

I recently sat down with Jen from Seapony at the band’s Brooklyn debut for Northside Festival. We talked briefly about what summer means for Seapony and the band’s upcoming plans. And with the best set of the weekend, I highly recommend checking out this band if you can.

Read the interview with Seapony.

I know, I know. I’m late.
 
But like a mostly-absent father, I’m here after the fact with half-truth excuses and half-empty promises. A ballgame next week, perhaps, is how I’ll win back your favor. But I won’t be there. No, you’ll just be sitting on your porch, mitt in hand, like a sucker.
 
But let’s not get bogged down with those pesky details!
 
My kid got sick and I think I caught some kind of mutated version of her disease specifically engineered to make me more tired than I usually already am because I have been dragging ass this week. The good news is that I seem to be over it and I’ve got a wild hair up my ass.
 
I got my CSTVT vinyl in the mail today! Huzzah!
 
Pretty, I know. I also got the new Eisley album in the mail. Unfortunately, it’s not as pretty. I’m gay for female vocalists and even gayer for dream pop/shoegazer shit so I’ve had a boner for Eisley for a minute. Never mind the fact that they’re from Tyler, a city two hours away from me and those three foxy sisters that have starred in any number of my lewd, possibly illegal fantasies.
 
Read the rest of this week’s Old and Jaded.

:: Prince was live at the Apollo… to announce shows from behind a podium.

:: Looks like we’ll be getting a “big, ornate rock record” from those crazy Cold Ward Kids in January.

:: I’m too scared to listen to these four unreleased Weezer tracks. Someone please do it for me and report back.

:: Seattle Weekly’s Reverb tells us which bands deserve an EMP exhibit after Nirvana.

:: Hyrda Head cracked some big knowledge eggs on all of its Twitter followers yesterday, including release dates for Harvey Milk, Daughters and Cave In vinyl.

:: Duff McKagan must be bored out of his mind since being kicked out of Jane’s Addiction. Why else would he show up on stage for a Guns N’ Roses show?

:: If only all human pyramids were this enrapturing.

We were thumbing through the Buzzgrinder microfiche archives, and we found this article from Matt DeBenedictis that never made it up, extolling the virtues of Shellac‘s Terraform on its 10th anniversary. Even though that was a while back, we can’t deprive the loyal Buzzgrinderers from this bit of nostalgia. So have at it.

Read the 10 reasons why Terraform is awesome.

:: Darn, it looks like Steven Tyler won’t be leaving Aerosmith after all. And here I was hoping it would be my big chance to dress all fruity and prance around like a wannabe Mick Jagger. I mean, I do it in my bedroom all the time, but I could’ve done it in public, too.

:: Pavement is playing some European shows in May 2010.

:: Speaking of bands reuniting for a big ol’ paycheck, Vice has laid out all the guidelines you need to follow if you want to make a trash can full of dollars by getting the old group back together.

:: Dave Grohl knew Kurt Cobain was going to die young. Good thing he used this information to help Kurt… oh wait.

:: Mogwai has a live film coming out soon, and the trailer for it has been released.

:: With a headline like “JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SLASH, THIS IS THE WORST FUCKING THING I HAVE EVER FUCKING HEARD,” it’s tough to tell what the Metal Sucks dudes really think about the new Slash material.

Welcome to a week of fancy reissues and box sets. Everyone’s been abuzz about Nirvana‘s Bleach reissue. Maybe now’s the time for me to, you know, own a copy of that album. Sad, I know. Also, some other Nirvana reissues, a couple Neutral Milk Hotel 180 gram vinyls, a 4-disc Guided by Voices collection and a Foo Fighters best-of. It must be close to Christmas or something.

Otherwise, I recommend avoiding The Almost, headbanging with Slayer, checking out Arrington de Dionyso if you’d like your face blown off, curiously prying into a Joy Electric album of cover songs, bowing to Apple with an iTunes-only Mastodon EP, whining along with Morrissey, feeling socially awkward with Jookabox and embracing decent emo with Say Anything.

:: The Almost, Monster, Monster (Virgin)

:: Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Have Yourself A Meaty Little Christmas (Williams Street)

:: Arrington de Dionyso, Malaikat Dan Singa (K)

:: Brilliant Colors, Introducing (Slumberland)

:: Carla Bley, Carla’s Christmas Carols (ECM)

:: Citay, Remixes LP (Dead Oceans)

:: Curtis Harvey, Box of Stones (FatCat)

:: David Bazan, “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” b/w “Say it Isn’t Greensleeves (A Chance at Christmas)” 7″ (Suicide Squeeze)

:: The Dixie Bee-Liners, Susanville (Pinecastle)

:: DOA, Kings of Punk, Hockey & Beer (Sudden Death)

More »

While Kurt Cobain was said to have ended his life April 5, 1994, it wasn’t until this day that he was found dead in his home by an electrician. There’s no doubt Nirvana‘s legacy is inextricably tied to this event. And it’s obvious that the history of popular music was, and still is still, drastically effected by it.

Now I won’t say that Nirvana is one of the greatest bands of all time (yeah, I just lost what little street cred/scene points I had left), but Cobain and the boys did write some great anthemic songs. So instead of getting all gloomy about the state of music, the dark side of the rockstar lifestyle, or mopey Gen-X grunginess, let’s waste our time arguing about which Nirvana song is the best.

:: Living Hell – “the sound of pestilent hardcore with raw metallic overtones” – has signed with Eulogy Records.

:: Metallica has beaten Glasvegas to the top of the UK charts. Wait, what? Who?

:: Kris Norris, guitarist of Darkest Hour, has left the band.

:: All sorts of great bands are on the upcoming Guitar Hero, including Modest Mouse, Muse, Nirvana, Coldplay, Interpol, R.E.M., and Dinosaur Jr.

:: Remember mix tapes? I mean “Dr. Dre dropping rhymes on a cassette back in ’86” mix tape – not these CR-Rs the kids are talking about nowadays.

Please?

Courtney Love is being sued by London & Co for non payment of services rendered, after selling some of Nirvana’s discog.

Love, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, sold a portion of the catalogue for $19.5 million last year. London was hired to provide business management services to Love and was to be paid 5% of the revenues received by Love, according to the lawsuit.

Isn’t there a conspiracy theory somewhere in all this?

Photo by Pulicciano.