Be sure and tune into LFO Radio tonight from 10pm to 3am CST for Loudersoft’s Justin Hand spinning a live set from Dish in Memphis. Until that cranks up, why not bliss out to 8.5 minutes of Q-Bert’s “Superman” video? It’s….mind-boggling. Why? Because the majority of the people who read this cannot do what Q-Bert does. Respect.

Click here to be taken to a good quality stream of Living With War. Thanks to Reprise Records for the link and especially to Neil Young for making this great, great album.

Purchase Neil Young’s Living With War from iTunes

According to Angry Ape, Seattle’s delightful supergroup-of-sorts The Long Winters next release will be a full-length album this Summer.

Barsuk will be releasing the new 11 track CD on July 25th, which the group have imaginatively titled Putting The Days To Bed.

The last material from The Long Winters was the 2005 EP Ultimatum EP, and this LP is the official album follow-up to When I Pretend To Fall.

Putting The Days To Bed Tracklisting:
01. Pushover
02. Fire Island, AK
03. Teaspoon
04. Hindsight
05. Sky Is Open
06. Honest
07. Clouds
08. Rich Wife
09. Ultimatum
10. (It’s a) Departure
11. Seven

I get a lot of submissions from bands who want their music reviewed, and I listen to everything. But sometimes, I get something and I really have to do a double take. I really didn’t know what to expect when I got my hands on this CD from Los Angeles pink rock band Black Fag. I looked at the cover and thought, “Am I reading this right?” I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be offended, but then I got inside and discovered the concept.

How about an all-gay Black Flag cover band?

Okay. Okay, now that I’ve figured out what this is, I…have to listen to this. As it turns out, it’s really good! Equal parts humor, protest music and cover band, Black Fag gives a meaning to punk rock not heard since Pansy Division. In the band’s own words, it sounds like “Fred Schneider fronting Black Flag”. I’m at a loss for words, so how about if I just share the band’s story courtesy of their MySpace page?

The story of Black Fag begins in the small town of New Hope, PA. Singer Liberace Morris was raised in neighboring Doylestown, but found a home among New Hopes thriving gay community. He worked at a vintage clothing/toy store while pursuing musical theatre at the Bucks County Playhouse at night. One night after Pippin rehearsal, Liberace came home to find his boyfriend in bed with another man. While drowning his sorrows at the local watering hole, The Raven, Liberace started singing and playing Black Flags Nervous Breakdown on the piano. The rest of the bar simply ate it upuntil the end of the song, when Liberace stood up and started haphazardly hurling martini glasses around the place. He was permanently ejected from The Raven and convinced that his life was officially over.

While lying on the sidewalk debating what type of pills would make for the most dramatic accessory to his final exit, a shadow loomed over him. It was bassist Cher Dykeowski, a biker dyke like no other, who was in town for the annual motorcycle rally. She, too, was a Black Flag fan, and had seen something special in Liberaces performance. Having not had a steady home since her parents kicked her out after she attended her senior prom with her Phys. Ed. teacher, Cher was a wanderer with plans to make her way to California. She offered Liberace the bitch seat on her Harley and, with nothing left for either of them in Pennsylvania, they set off on an epic cross-country journey, which included Cher winning a blue ribbon at the Annual Gay Rodeo in Scottsdale, AZ along the way. (And believe you me, the rest of that trip makes Priscilla, Queen of the Desert look like Andy Warhols Sleep, but thats a tale to be told on another day)

In the meantime, Greg Streisand had been dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Navy for violating their Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy. He told by deliberately misinterpreting the term military dress and showing up to his superior officers court martial hearing in a stunning Arnold Scaasi gown. He was left struggling to make ends meet while working at a flower shop in West Hollywood, CA. One day, a bronzed young stud, Robo Simmons, came into the shop and there were instant sparks between the two. It turned out that Robo was the entertainment director on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship docked in Long Beach over the weekend, so Greg and Robo instantly bonded over their love of the sea and entered into a whirlwind romance. Gregs more open-minded Navy buddies had turned him onto Black Flag, and anything that turned Greg on turned Robo on, too. Robos job took him away from Greg for weeks at a time, but when the two were togetherand not in bedthey would make crme brulee in the nude and sing songs like Gimme Gimme Gimme and Wasted to each other.

Liberace and Cher finally made it to California and ended up crashing in West Hollywood with some friends of Chers who ran a whole foods collective. Liberace began to pursue his dream of becoming a singer by dabbling in the local cabaret circuit. In between show tunes and old standards, he would slip a Black Flag cover into his set, always dedicating it to Cher, who faithfully attended all of his shows. The Flag songs were never popular with the crowds, but one night Greg and Robo caught the show and complimented him on it afterwards. Flattered, Liberace bought them drinks and introduced them to Cher. After last call, they all stumbled back to Greg and Robos apartment and jokingly started playing Black Flag covers on the pawn shop instruments Greg and Robo had been collecting. One by one, they all passed out for the night, but the next morning, over Gregs famous homemade crepes, they decided they would start a band dedicated to their mutually favorite music.

Chew on these two tracks from them, and feel free to laugh and throw shit at the same time. I’m putting Black Fag in the “this I gotta see live to believe” department.

Listen To “TV Party” by Black Fag
Listen To “Depression” by Black Fag

Black Fag’s self-titled album is available for purchase thru Interpunk by clicking here. You can visit them on MySpace by clicking here.

I stayed up extra late tonight so I could catch the premiere of the web stream of Neil Young’s Living With War over at NeilYoung.com, due for download sale starting May 2nd. Here are my impressions, song by song:

1) After The Garden – This is pure protest power pop Neil Young, with no rough edges removed. It’s beautifully angry.

2) Living With War – At first, I didn’t want to like it. But once it gets into the “Star Spangled Banner”, I suddenly become weepy and angry. Maybe it’s because I stayed up too late.

3) The Restless Consumer – Neil Young sounds strangely like he’s doing a George Bush imitation as he screams, “Don’t need no more lies!” over and over again. I’m a huge Neil fan, but I’m beginning to get peeved at the backng chorus. Towards the end of the song, I start to get what he’s doing — he’s actually playing two characters in the song, espousing both sides of things to expose the stupidity of “The Restless Consumer”. I decide to get up and have a cookie.

4) Shock And Awe – I drop my cookie on the floor and sit motionless. This song is what I have been dying to hear: classic Neil Young at his finest. I live to hear Neil Young’s screaming guitars and harmonies, and this song (which at it’s root is a re-working of “Hey Hey, My My”) is as lyrically brutal as it is beautiful and thought provoking. The first real winner out of the collection.

5) Families – Here’s a song about a soldier off at war, wishing he was home with his family. I think about a friend of mine who is stationed in Iraq and I start to break down a little bit, feeling very prideful and spiteful about this stupid, unnecessary war. Another favorite off the album.

6) Flags Of Freedom – Neil Young’s gift comes from his ability to quickly paint a portrait of a person’s life, nearly like a film. This is one of those songs — a powerful portrait of a family torn apart by a child being sent off to war. I’m actually bawling now, and I just keep getting angrier by the moment. “Today’s the day our younger son is going off to war/Fighting the age old battle we’ve sometimes won before/The flags that fly on main street/Are blowin’ in the wind/These must be the flags of freedom flying.” Indeed.

7) Let’s Impeach The President – Say what you want about Neil Young being an old fogey or being an old codger, he’s got a fucking point and he knows how to turn that into a song. This song is meaningful today, it will be more meaningful, sadly, as time goes on. Americans who voted for George Bush, what were you thinking? This is an appropriate and timely anthem that should have everyone talking.

Lookin’ For A Leader – Well, I’m not sure what to say here. Not my favorite song on the record, and not one I’d listen to much. But again, Neil’s right. We’re looking for a leader and he’s not in the house. “Maybe it’s a woman or a black man after all”, he sings. How about a black woman?

9) Roger And Out – Definitely my favorite song on this album. It’s an open letter to a friend and fellow enlistee who was obviously killed in battle. More than that, it’s a bittersweet look at a loss of innocence. It’s the “Long May You Run” of this collection.

10) America The Beautiful – Yes, it’s the song “America, The Beautiful” that, hopefully, you know the words to. Sung acapella by the soul-laden chorus of voices, it’s a perfect cap to the theme of the album.

All in all, I’m going to need a few more listens to the album to really know what I think. But Neil Young, in my opinion, is often at his best when he doesn’t stop to think about what he’s doing. The spontaneity of the album is it’s grace and, at times, it’s undoing. Sure it’s a little cheesy, but do you hear anyone else writing protest songs? We need them, and we don’t have them. One thing I can say after hearing this album: I’m proud of Neil Young for following, as always, the courage of his convictions. Want to hear some classic Neil? Click here to hear his 1972 album Time Fades Away and you’ll quickly see what I mean.

I saw this up on YouTube and noticed it was the finished video for the storyboards posted up at Gorilla vs. Bear last month. The storyboards alone were stunning, the finished video speaks for itself. Enjoy.

I was pleased and delighted to discover today on Smoosh’s MySpace page a new track from their forthcoming release Free To Stay available for download! It’s a great song & this is hard evidence that Smoosh is no gimmick. 12-year-old Asya plays the drums, 14-year-old Chloe plays keyboards and provides the vocals. The album will be released on Barsuk Records, and the pair have a slough of tour dates support Eels starting in late May. Check out the song “Find A Way”, and then head on over to their MySpace page to hear another song from the album!

Listen to “Find A Way” by Smoosh

Smoosh Summer Tour Dates 2006:
5/25 Roxy Los Angeles
5/26 Roxy Los Angeles
5/27 House of Blues San Diego
5/28 The Galaxy theatre Santa Ana
5/31 The Fillmore San Francisco
6/1 Harlows Sacramento
6/3 Roseland Portland
6/ 4 Showbox Seattle
6/6 The Depot Salt Lake City
6/7 Fox Theatre Boulder
6/9 The Vogue Theatre Indianapolis
6/10 Three River Arts Festival Pittsburgh
6/11 9:30 Club Washington D.C.
6/12 Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia
6/15 Sommerville Theater Boston
6/16 Le Nacional Montreal
6/17 Mod Club Theater Toronto
Eels tour support dates Europe
6/23 Astoria London
6/24Wireless Festival London
6/28 Exo 7 Rouen
6/29 Cigalle Paris
7/3 Batschkapp Frankfurt
7/4 Flex Vienna
7/7 Music centre Dublin
Eels tour support dates australia
7/20 Tivoli, Brisbane
7/21 Enmore, Sydney
7/23 The Atheneum, Melbourne
7/24 The Atheneum, Melbourne

One of my fond memories of Seattle involves Endfest 2000 and an afternoon filled with music from Glasgow’s master electronic act Swayzak. I’ve never forgotten the show or the great afternoon/evening my friends and I spent with James. music (for robots) has a track from their upcoming release Route De La Slack, a compilation of remixes and rarities. Head on over and check it out.

Homo Eclectic has a couple of tracks from Phoenix’s new It’s Never Been Like That that are worth peeping out. You can click here to give those a listen.

Take a moment to go to the blog where The Rawking Refuses To Stop! for a day-by-day preview of what’s coming to Coachella this year. They’re on Day 2 with tracks from The Dears, Wolf Parade, Sleater-Kinney, and Art Brut.

Stereogum breaks down and does “The Inevitable Beirut Post” featuring songs from one of my favorite new bands on the horizon. Go give them a listen.

According to Largehearted Boy, the exceptionally funny Eugene Mirman is guest blogging today over at Said The Gramophone. Expect to get an earful and an eyeful of funny, funny things.