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Uh, Let Me Explain: Deep Thoughts About a Dumb Industry

OK, here’s the story as I know it: AutoVaughn independently released their 2006 album Space, busted their collective ass for a year and got signed to a monolithic international entertainment conglomerate. Then they went into the studio with Brian Virtue, who has worked on tons of projects from Jane's Addiction to the Kiss Alive! box set to the X-Files OST (nerdgasm, whoa!), and they co-produced a six song EP of headphone-ready, echo-drenched guitar pop.

And then their monolithic international entertainment conglomerate drops ‘em like an Indian baby off a tall building. Which is—in my humble opinion—totally fucking retarded.

Forecastle Festival Lineup Announced; Tickets On Sale Tomorrow

Lucky for you, one of the top 33 festivals in the country is only three hours away.

Louisville's Forecastle Festival, held July 25-27, has announced its lineup, and it includes the likes of Tortoise, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's and Nashville's own All We Seabees. Get your tickets starting 10 a.m. tomorrow—locally you can pick them up at Grimey's.

Lineup after the jump.

Spun: American Bang

Yesterday, our own American Bang were Spin's artist of the day:

With fun-lovin' boogie-down guitars and lyrics recalling trailer park tales of fast women and booze-soaked romps, at first glance Nashville, TN's American Bang recall a certain family of Followills. But with speed-fueled punk urgency and a smorgasbord of rock influences in the fine print, American Bang plow over references with conviction.

They play Coachella on Friday, April 25—no small feat. But this "fun fact" in the piece is a little curious:

While most bands hit a dark bar, a grungy house party, or an off-the-map coffee shop for their opening performance, American Bang's live debut was slightly more substantial—a gig opening for O.A.R. to a roaring crowd at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, the original site of the Grand Ole Opry.

Uh, what? (Emphasis mine.)

'I Played a Little Bit of the Guitar run from "Summer Babe" but no one Really Noticed.'

Gothamist has an interview up with cryptic slacker-rock king Stephen Malkmus that took place the night he was in Nashville, about to play with the Jicks at Mercy Lounge.

Possibly more amusing is Malkmus' appearance on Fox News' Red Eye show, but Silver Jews fans will be amused by this anecdote about his and David Berman's antics back in New York in the '90s:

Can you share a story about life in New York back when you lived here? I don’t know. There’s so much in the early ’90s I could talk about. One time I got caught evading a fare on the subway in 1991 because they had these really old turnstiles and I just slid through one of them and there was a sting. I got caught and had to spend four hours in the underground Union Square precinct with a bunch of other homeless derelicts. That came and went and I had a court date and my friend David Berman got caught and he had this idea to say that we were signing up to go fight in Iraq. And we had out-of-state licenses so we just said we were tourists from out of town and had come to New York to enlist to go to Kuwait. And the judge just told us to get out of there. So it’s nice to know the judges of New York care about our boys over there.

American Bang Sure Watch A Lot of Lifetime Movies

Haters and gentlemen, start your engines! The too-cool-for-school crowd is gonna dog this one for sure, but Best Week Ever interviewed the Bang brothers for a little game of "Band Name Or Lifetime Movie" and it's pretty frickin funny. Not "the Timmons Sisters with Jeff Fahey" funny, but still pretty good.

One Step Ahead: Raconteurs Release Second Record Next Week

The Raconteurs are channeling some of that sneaky White Stripes trickery and releasing a second album all of a sudden and seemingly out of nowhere next week, on March 25. It's called Consolers of the Lonely, and the motive behind springing the record on the public and press at the same time is as egalitarian as Jack White and Brendan Benson's songwriting approach.

From the press release:

The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding its availability, reception or perception.

Still, I'd like to go ahead and tell you what I think of the record: It's a mature, brilliant follow-up to the glammy/power-poppy/proggy, thundering thrill of 2006's Broken Boy Soldiers. From songs like "Salute Your Solution" to "Rich Kid Blues," it's 55 minutes and 14 tracks of pure rock pomp and glee. A force to be reckoned with, indeed.

Metalheads Still Don't Get De Novo Dahl

Brooklyn Vegan totally rapes our buzz. Sorta.

Holy F--k! AutoVaughn Are Playing Rachael Ray's SXSW Party!

That's right, local alt-rockers AutoVaughn and nominees for the "greatest band name ever," Holy Fuck, are playing the indie-licious SXSW throwdown hosted by Rachael Ray! Whose spoon did they have to lick to get that gig?!? As an ex-line cook, day-time talk enthusiast and red-blooded American male, I have to say that I am damn, damn jealous. There are so many bad food/sex puns running around in my head that I can barely see straight.

On a somewhat related note, do you think she'll bring meatloaf patties with bacon gravy and peas to the green room? That would be so much cooler than cheap pizza and cheez-in-a-can. Mmmm, bacon gravy....

DIY 'Til you Die?

I came across a pretty handy site last night for anyone interested in booking a DIY tour, Do DIY USA. They also have a MySpace page. The Tennessee listings are pretty slim, just one for Chattanooga and a place called House Pride in Murfreesboro.

Super Tuesday: Paramore Talk Politics

So, who are all those nubile Christian emo kids pulling for in the 2008 presidential election? We're gonna guess that their candidate of choice is male (like Jesus), Christian (like Jesus) and thinks that gayness is, like, totally gay.

And who will the guyliner mafia not be supporting? Paramore guitarist Josh Farro has an idea. In an online chat with fans for Gigwise, the Franklinite offered this nuanced take on the political race:

“I haven’t really looked into US politicians that much this year. I really hope Hillary Clinton doesn’t get elected cause she’s crazy!!!!”

Maybe if Pete Wentz was running, he'd be paying more attention.

Via Idolator.