EVR Music News: January Releases We're Totally Looking Forward To
One of the bright spots of January's oft-miserable post-holiday bleakness is that record labels start gearing up their release schedules again after having not released much since the week before Thanksgiving. So here are 13 January releases that would make us brave the midwinter chill to hit the record shops. Or perhaps stay in with a nice mug of hot cocoa and order them online. (Release dates are always subject to change.)
January 13:
Colossal Yes -- Charlemagne's Big Thaw (Ba Da Bing!)
Late of the Pier -- Fantasy Black Channel (Astralwerks)
January 20:
Antony and the Johnsons -- The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)
Andrew Bird -- Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
Jackie O Motherfucker -- The Blood of Life (Fire)
A.C. Newman -- Get Guilty (Matador)
Squarepusher -- Numbers Lucent (EP) (Warp)
January 27:
The Bird and the Bee -- Ray Guns Are Not The Future (Metro Blue)
Ran Blake -- Driftwoods (Tompkins Square)
Franz Ferdinand -- Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Epic)
Goblin Cock -- Come With Me if You Want To Live (Robcore)
RZA -- Afro Samurai: The Resurrection (Wu Music Group)
Six Organs of Admittance -- RTZ (Drag City)
-- Stewart Mason
EVR Live Show Pick: Toubab Krewe at S.O.B.s, Thursday, January 8
What do you get when you mix a bunch of eclectic-minded musicians from Asheville, NC, some infectious Afro-pop influences, and a tendency toward intense, hypnotic jams? If we’re doing the math right, that equals Toubab Krewe, who will be hauling their ngonis (and guitars and koras) to S.O.B.’s (204 Varick St, at West Houston) this Thursday, January 8, to celebrate the release of their second album, Live at the Orange Peel, and kick off their Buncombe 2 Badala tour in a properly polyrhythmic fashion.
-- Jim Allen
If You Like Toubab Krewe, Listen Live To This EVR Show:
On The Fly, Thursdays, 2 - 4 p.m.
EVR Obit: Stooges Guitarist Ron Asheton (1948 – 2009)
Ron Asheton has been found dead at his Ann Arbor home today (January 6, 2009) of a reported heart attack. A founding member of The Stooges alongside his brother Scott Asheton and Iggy Pop, Ron played guitar on their 1969 debut and the following year's Fun House before switching to bass for 1973's Raw Power. When the band re-formed in 2003 he had returned to his favored instrument.
The primitive simplicity of Asheton's guitar playing was influenced by early rock 'n' rollers, and in turn cast a huge influence on legions of alternative and garage rock bands that followed in The Stooges' wake. Asheton was the cleanest living of The Stooges, and it is a horrible twist of fate that Iggy Pop, who spent most of the 70s on a one-way death trip, survives him. Iggy also gets the lion's share of the credits for The Stooges' seminal albums, but it was Asheton who provided the instrumental driving force for the band's amped up garage rock. He was also frequently overlooked as Pop's co-songwriter. In addition to his work with The Stooges, Asheton was also a member of proto-punk bands The New Order and New Race, and played alongside young pretenders Thurston Moore, Mark Arm, Mike Watt and J. Mascis on the soundtrack for the Todd Haynes' film Velvet Goldmine.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to The Stooges on EVR:
Peer Pressure RxRF 17 Dots
EVR Music News: Kraftwerk Down To Last Original Model
Last month, it was announced that Kraftwerk were going to tour Central and South America as Radiohead's hand-picked opening act. Apparently, that idea didn't sit too well with everyone, because on January 5, a short and stiffly-worded note announced that Florian Schneider has left the band that he and Ralf Hutter co-founded in 1970. (As Krautrock boffins well know, the other half of the original Kraftwerk lineup, Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger, split to form Neu! in 1971) The tour is still on, and will hit Mexico City; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile in the last two weeks of March.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen to Kraftwerk on EVR:
Beacon's Closet Presents: The Holy Shit Sound System The Shocking Blue Sessions Minimal-Electronik Plus
EVR Music News: Foals Post Demos Online
Artsy-dancey UK outfit Foals, whose debut album Antidotes (Sub Pop) finished high in EVR's Top 40 Albums of 2008, have posted three works-in-progress demos on their MySpace page. The three somber instrumental pieces, each under two minutes long, were composed by singer and guitarist Yannis Phillippakis on his own; his self-deprecating blog post describes them as "me messing round late at night lonely on a loop pedal." Phillippakis' avowed fondness for minimalist composer Steve Reich is way more in evidence on these snippets of atmospheric moodiness than it was on the tightly-wound Antidotes. No release date has been announced.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen to Foals on EVR:
Sandy Acres Sound Lab Guilty Pleasure The Domino Records Show
EVR New Release Pick: Justice
Justice - A Cross The Universe(Ed Banger/Atlantic)
For those who wondered whether French electro-dance crossover heroes Justice could deliver as dynamically in concert as they do in the studio (or those who just want to hear a huge crowd losing their minds to the bass-buzzing strains of “Waters of Nazareth”), here comes the audio companion to the documentary of Justice’s 2008 U.S. tour, in all its beeping, swooping, slamming electro-house glory.
-- Jim Allen
Listen to Justice on EVR:
Mystic Sound Deadly Dragon Sounds Happy Medium
EVR Top 100 Songs of 2008
EVR wishes all our listeners a Happy New Year! From 10 a.m. to midnight on New Year's Day, we counted down EVR's Top 100 Tracks of 2008 as voted on by the East Village Radio DJs and staff. Make sure to keep listening to EVR in the New Year where you'll hear the best to come in 2009.
View the Top 100 Songs of 2008 here. (pdf file)
EVR Top Ten In-Studio Guests of 2008
In 2008, EVR had more and bigger special guests drop by our legendary ground-floor studio than ever before. While 2009 promises an even more exciting slate of surprises, here's a look back at our favorite in-studio guests from 2008:
1. Glasvegas
2. Alison Moyet
3. Kaiser Chiefs
4. Q-Tip
5. Jose Gonzalez
6. Black Milk
7. MGMT
8. Ane Brun
9. Charlie Ahearn
10. Neil Halstead
EVR Top Ten New York City Concerts of 2008
With the economic downturn hitting the music industry in full force in 2008, even the formerly recession-proof concert industry got rocked. Festivals didn't sell out (in part because it seemed like they all had the same acts), punters balked at triple-digit stadium show prices, and a lot of struggling indie bands couldn't afford to gas up the van and hit the road. But the news wasn't all bad, and as always, there were plenty of shows that impressed throughout the year. While 2008's most memorable live performance went down in Chicago's Grant Park late in the night of November 4, these were the best live shows in New York City:
1. Friendly Fires - Annex (12.09.08)
2. My Bloody Valentine - Roseland Ballroom (9.22.08)
3. School of Seven Bells - Mercury Lounge (12.15.08)
4. The Vaselines - Southpaw (7.10.08)
5. Absolute Body Control - Music Hall Of Williamsburg (04.04.08)
6. Bunnybrains - South Street Seaport (EVR Music Festival 09.07.08)
7. Roisin Murphy - Mansion (10.24.08)
8. Jay Reatard - Santos Playhouse (10.25.08)
9. Girl Talk - Terminal 5 (11.18.08)
10. Hercules & Love Affair - The Fillmore at Irving Plaza (08.08.08)
EVR Top 40 Albums of 2008
As a complement to our Top 100 Songs of 2008, EVR brings you our Top 40 Albums of the Year, as chosen by the East Village Radio DJs and staff. It's filled with EVR favorites, local standbys, and a few worthy contenders that slipped under most folks' radar in the last 12 months.
View the Top 40 Albums of 2008 here. (pdf file)
EVR DJ Profile: Baller's Eve, Wednesdays 10 p.m.
Every Wednesday at 10 P.M., the fearsome crew that makes up the Baller's Eve team delivers an industrial-strength dose of Dirty South hip-hop to the Big Apple. On Wednesday, December 31st, they'll be offering up twice as much red clay funk, rolling into the New year with a special four-hour live show from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Atlanta natives DJ Dirrty and Minski Walker started the ball rolling back in EVR’s early days. A couple of years later, Kat Daddy Slim and Sergio Vega came on board, allowing Baller's Eve to operate with double the intensity, earning a Village Voice best-of nod in 2005 for Best Crunk Fix. But being the first show to bring Southern rap to New York City hasn’t always been a snap. "At first people thought we were a little crazy," recalls Dirrty. "People in New York just wanted to hear Jay-Z all the damn time," Walker elaborates. Through perseverance, though, the crew quickly built its audience. "At this point we get respect across the board," says Dirrty, with Walker adding "We helped people get over whatever issues they had with it and actually listen to the music."
Individually, the Baller's Eve DJs spin all over town, but they come together as one to spread the Southern hip-hop gospel through EVR. Vega, the crew’s lone native New Yorker, feels Southern rap is "truer to the party-rap ethos of early artists like The Sugar Hill Gang." Atlanta-bred Kat Daddy Slim takes it a step further, saying "This music of the 'new South' is a form of pride, a celebratory state...we have come a long way, and it’s time to acknowledge this new freedom and show our talent to the world." That Southern celebration happens every Wednesday night on EVR from 10 p.m. to midnight. You can find out more about what Baller's Eve is up to by visiting their blog, or just tune in for a taste of that Southern-fried flavor.
-- Jim Allen
EVR Music News: Freddie Hubbard, April 7, 1938 -- December 29, 2008
Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard died this morning, following a massive heart attack he suffered November 26. Arguably the best trumpeter of the generation immediately following Miles Davis, Hubbard worked as a teen with his fellow Indianapolis native Wes Montgomery before moving to New York in the late 1950s. A series of hard bop albums for Blue Note, Impulse! and Atlantic made his name, alongside his sideman work for Herbie Hancock and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He also appeared on classic albums like John Coltrane's Ascension and Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth. In the 1970s, Hubbard recorded seven albums for Creed Taylor's fusion label CTI that are now among the label's least dated-sounding releases: Red Clay, a 1970 session with Hancock featuring a harrowing 10-minute take on John Lennon's heroin anthem "Cold Turkey," is a particular high point.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Freddie Hubbard On EVR:
Frog's Treats The Time Machine Tummy Touch Presents Two For Tennis
EVR New Release Pick: Alice Russell
Alice Russell - Pot Of Gold(Six Degrees)
Just because it took British neo-soul queen Alice Russell four albums to break through to America, don’t pigeonhole her as some Amy Winehouse-come-lately. When she gets her funk on, she’s got more in common with Sharon Jones anyhow. And when she remakes Gnarls Barkley’s signature song as a gospel-soul epic, it’s clear she’s playing by no one’s rulebook but her own.
-- Jim Allen
Listen to Alice Russell on EVR:
The Shocking Blue Sessions Underground Awakening The Blue Label Show
EVR Music News: Eartha Kitt, January 17, 1927 - December 25, 2008
Many knew her only as the creepy-sexy Catwoman on the camp 60s Batman TV serial, but when Eartha Kitt died Christmas Day at the age of 81, the music world lost an icon of sultry elegance. Born of mixed race in the tiny farming town of North, South Carolina just prior to the start of the Great Depression, Kitt began her career as a dancer in New York City in the mid-'40s. Film roles and cabaret engagements followed, along with classic hit singles like her signature song "C'est Si Bon," the definitive version of the standard "Love For Sale" and the inescapable holiday classic "Santa Baby." Long recognized as a gay icon, she embraced that standing in the '80s, recording electro-dance hits like "Where Is My Man" and regularly performing at benefits for HIV/AIDS organizations. She's survived by a daughter, Kitt McDonald, and two grandchildren.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Eartha Kitt On EVR:
Now Hear This! Sandy Acres Sound Lab Generation X Y JaZz
Happy Holidays From EVR!
As 2008 comes to a close, we here at East Village Radio want to take a moment to thank you, our listeners. 2008 was a big year for us, what with our fifth anniversary celebration, the premiere of the East Village Radio Music And Food Festival last September, and more great shows on the schedule than ever before. Not to give the surprises away too early or anything, but 2009 promises to be bigger still!
In the meantime, please enjoy our special all-day stream of holiday tunes chosen by your favorite EVR DJs on Christmas Day. And on New Years Day, we're planning a Year In Review that will feature the best songs of 2008 as chosen by the EVR staff. In between, we'll be featuring special four-hour blocks of some of our favorite shows: check back here at EVR News for details. We'll be back to our regular schedule on Monday, January 5.
EVR Live Show Pick: Gogol Bordello at Webster Hall
Everybody's favorite gypsy punks Gogol Bordello are capping off another year while simultaneously taking advantage of the traditionally slow week between Christmas and New Year's to play a hometown three-night stand at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th St.), Saturday December 27, Monday December 29, and Tuesday December 30. (The Saturday show is already sold out.) Opening act for the Monday show is the prog-pop trio Apollo Sunshine, while Tuesday's first slot is taken by Forro in the Dark, whose mutated take on Brazilian folk dance music does for South America what Gogol Bordello does for the Balkans.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Gogol Bordello On EVR:
Chances With Wolves No New York Peer Pressure
EVR Music News: Can A One Man Band Truly Break Up?
Mike Skinner has announced that he's just begun writing the Streets' last album, provisionally entitled Computers and Blues. (That title was announced before Kanye West's similarly-named 808s and Heartbreak came out, incidentally.) He's begun writing songs for the album and hopes to begin recording next month, after a custom '80s-vintage mixing desk is installed in his home studio; rough mixes might appear on his MySpace page. The most recent Streets album, Everything is Borrowed (Vice Records), is a big step up from 2006's whining, self-indulgent The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, but it's still not a patch on Skinner's first two albums, so perhaps the self-imposed retirement's not a bad idea.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To The Streets On EVR:
Underground Awakening Andrew Andrew'Sound Sound The Wax Poetics Record Rundown
EVR New Release Pick: Paul Weller
Paul Weller -- At The BBC (Yep Roc)
Why piddle around with the two-disc version? If you’re digging into the Paul Weller archives, go whole hog with the full four-CD set of his live BBC performances. Covering everything from his Style Council days up to the present, At The BBC packs a bevy of tunes from Weller’s solo albums, along with covers of everyone from Manfred Mann to Marvin Gaye, with the odd Jam track thrown in to satiate the faithful.
-- Jim Allen
Listen to Paul Weller on EVR:
Tummy Touch Presents Two for Tennis Underground Awakening Atlantic Tunnel
EVR Spotlight: Christmas Letter From London
December is traditionally a quiet time for new music and gigs in the UK, although anyone wishing to get into the festive spirit should head to the Brixton Academy to catch The Pogues' annual Christmas shows. Amid the usual holiday dross, notable single releases include the return of fey popsters The Boy Least Likely To with "The First Snowflake" and indie charmers The Wombats with "Is This Christmas." Meanwhile, Portishead are promoting their "Magic Doors" single with the limited release of an accompanying short film at select cinemas around the country. Last but not least, Hot Chip have released a four-track EP featuring contributions from the truly great Robert Wyatt and electronic duo Geese.
Meanwhile, an interesting chart battle is taking place for the UK's Christmas number 1 single. Alexandra Burke, the winner of this year's X Factor (an insanely popular reality TV show in the American Idol mode), has released a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallejuah." It is truly dreadful. Incensed, fans of Jeff Buckley have launched an internet campaign to promote his definitive version of the song. At the moment it looks likely to finish just behind Burke, but it has given a timely boost to Buckley's music. Laughing Len's original, incidentally, is also in the Top 20.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to The Boy Least Likely To on EVR:
The Seaport Music Show
Listen to Jeff Buckley on EVR:
Loisaida Cultural Wire
Listen to Hot Chip on EVR:
(((Attuned)))
EVR Music News: New Morrissey Album Finally Out In February
Morrissey's much-delayed ninth solo album, Years of Refusal, has finally been scheduled for a February 17, 2009 release on Lost Highway Records. Recorded in late 2007, the album has been pushed back several times, reportedly due in part to Morrissey's dissatisfaction with former US label Decca Records' non-existent promotion of last February's Greatest Hits compilation. As on 2006's Ringleader of the Tormentors, Morrissey's songwriting foils are former guitarist Alain Whyte and current guitarists Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias. Sadly, producer Jerry Finn died in August, shortly after post-production was completed. The first single, "I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris," will be out February 9.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Morrissey On EVR:
Guilty Pleasure Sandy Acres Sound Lab
EVR Music News: Eno Tapped To Score Next Peter Jackson Movie
Despite his three-volume Music For Films series, Brian Eno has, surprisingly, rarely written original film scores. However, Eno has been confirmed as director Peter Jackson's choice to score his current project The Lovely Bones. An apparent return to the small-scale feel of his elegiac mid-'90s breakthrough Heavenly Creatures after that overblown King Kong update, The Lovely Bones is Jackson's rendering of the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, narrated from beyond the grave by a teenage murder victim. In a weird sort of way, that idea does have Brian Eno written all over it. The movie will be out next December.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Brian Eno On EVR:
Beacon's Closet Presents: The Holy Shit Sound System Peer Pressure The Continuous Mammal
EVR Music News: Break Out The Bowl Cuts And Jackson Pollack Guitars...Maybe
Stone Roses bass player Mani reports that the band could reform next year in celebration of their classic debut album's 20th anniversary: "It's the ideal time to do it. It's something I would love to do before we are all fat and bald. Start the campaign." The bassist told a British interviewer that guitarist John Squire and drummer Reni are into the idea, and that only frontman Ian Brown is holding out. Mani claims he's "working on" Ian whenever he sees his old bandmate at Man U matches. EVR fully supports this reunion, as long as it sounds like the "She Bangs the Drums" Stone Roses and not the Second Coming Stone Roses.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To The Stone Roses On EVR:
(((Attuned))) Guilty Pleasure Sandy Acres Sound Lab
EVR Music News: Of Montreal Release 7" Single Plus DVD
Hot on the heels of the recent full-length Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl Records), Of Montreal have released a new package featuring an exclusive seven-inch picture disc and a DVD. The single features a radical reinterpretation of M.I.A.'s "Jimmy" on the top side and a previously unreleased Kevin Barnes tune, "Middle Class Ghetto," on the flip. The DVD, Cause We Were Virgins To Your Kisses, consists of live and off-stage footage recorded during the suddenly almost-kinda mainstream band's 2007 tour. It's available now from the Polyvinyl Records store.
--Stewart Mason
Listen To Of Montreal On EVR:
The Dirt Parking Lot The Seaport Music Show GBH
EVR Music News: Arcade Fire Release Documentary Film
Arcade Fire have completed Miroir Noir, a 70-minute documentary about the creation and promotion of 2007's Neon Bible directed by longtime associate Vincent Morisset. The 70-minute feature includes in-studio footage, live performances, and some short films Morisset and the band made on tour. Miroir Noir is available now as a digital download in three different versions ranging from a large high-def file for $13.99 to a 400x225 pixel version suitable for portable media players for $5.99. The film will be released on DVD in early 2009, along with a special deluxe edition including some of the band's 2007 TV and radio performances.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Arcade Fire On EVR:
(((Attuned))) No New York Hella Fabulous
EVR Music News: Van Halen "No Brown M&Ms" Rider Found
The Smoking Gun has posted Van Halen's legendary rider from their 1982 world tour, in which the band famously demands that the backstage amenities include a bowl of M&M's with the brown ones removed. As the website points out, the demand was partially a joke and partially a clever way of making sure that local promoters had actually read and followed more important requirements about security, lighting and such. No confirmation yet about an offshoot urban legend claiming that another band touring America's hockey arenas around this period demanded Van Halen's castoff M&Ms in their own rider.
--Stewart Mason
Listen To Van Halen on EVR:
Gay Beach GBH Radio Pizza Party
EVR Music News: Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel Create Awesomeness Unimaginable
In a late entry for the "Most Awesome Cover Of 2008" sweepstakes, Hot Chip and Peter Gabriel have released their take on Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa." Yes, that's the song that namechecks Peter Gabriel himself in the chorus, which he comments on mid-song. Hot Chip's groovy electronic recasting of the tune makes it sound considerably less like Haircut 100 covering Paul Simon's Graceland, while highlighting the rather lovely melody. Recorded last summer at Gabriel's Real World Studios, this song is thus far available only on an XL Recordings label sampler. Hot Chip's EP with another art rock legend, Robert Wyatt, is due out next week.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Hot Chip On EVR:
Sandy Acres Sound Lab (((Attuned))) GBH
Listen To Peter Gabriel On EVR:
Domino Records Show Happy Medium MORRICONE YOUTH
EVR Music News: Davy Graham, November 22, 1940 - December 15, 2008
Sad news from the world of folk with the death of Davy Graham. Without doubt the most influential folk blues guitarist to emerge from the 1960s folk music revolution in England, Graham was a huge and lasting influence on artists such as Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, and Paul Simon. Simon was moved enough to call him "probably England's greatest guitarist", and was one of several who attempted to cover Graham's most memorable track, "Angi" aka "Anji." Graham disappeared from the music scene at the start of the 1970s, but overcame ill health and drug problems to re-emerge as a noted teacher and continued to play folk clubs. He died at his home in Scotland after a short battle with lung cancer.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to Davy Graham on EVR:
Radio Heart Chances With Wolves Root Hog Or Die
EVR Music News: No Fun Fest 2009 Lineup Announced
The dates and lineup for No Fun Fest 2009 have been announced. Taking place May 15-17 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, the sixth annual festival of experimental noise and avant-garde rock will feature 27 acts over its three days, headlined by Merzbow, Sonic Youth, and Bastard Noise. Other confirmed acts include Grey Wolves, Bardo Pond, Axolotl, and of course a solo set by No Fun Productions head Carlos Giffoni. Ticket prices, the daily schedule, and other information will be announced January 12.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen to artists from No Fun Productions on EVR:
Radio Heart Just Music RxRF
EVR Music News: Neko Case’s Cyclone Hits in March
Canadian alt-country chanteuse Neko Case got a little help from her friends on her new record Middle Cyclone, due March 3, 2009 on Anti- Records. Along with her steady five-piece backing band, guests on the 15-track release include singer-songwriters M. Ward and Sarah Harmer, the Band’s Garth Hudson, a few of her New Pornographers bandmates, and members of Calexico and Los Lobos. Cyclone — recorded in Tuscon, Toronto, Brooklyn, and Vermont — follows Case’s critically acclaimed 2006 release Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.
-- Laura Leebove
Listen to Neko Case on EVR:
Now Hear This! Peer Pressure (((Attuned)))
EVR Music News: Ex-Pipette Releases Debut Solo Single
Earlier this year, two-thirds of retro-fab UK girl group the Pipettes (whose debut album We Are the Pipettes (Memphis Industries) was one of 2006's fizziest delights) split for "other musical pursuits." Usually, this is polite music-biz code for "You'll never hear from them again." But this week, Rose Elinor Dougall (formerly known as both "Rosay" and "the brunette one") released a rather terrific debut solo single, "Another Version of Pop Song" (Scarlett Records). The song leaves behind the Pipettes' girl-group fixation for more recent influences (early '90s dream-popsters the Sundays and post-Stereolab indie-electronica in particular) but maintains her old band's knack for nagging hooks. Dougall is undertaking a small UK tour this week to promote the single. No word on Riotbecki's current activities.
--Stewart Mason
Listen to The Pipettes on EVR:
60 Degrees Authentic Shit Guilty Pleasure
One of the bright spots of January's oft-miserable post-holiday bleakness is that record labels start gearing up their release schedules again after having not released much since the week before Thanksgiving. So here are 13 January releases that would make us brave the midwinter chill to hit the record shops. Or perhaps stay in with a nice mug of hot cocoa and order them online. (Release dates are always subject to change.)
What do you get when you mix a bunch of eclectic-minded musicians from Asheville, NC, some infectious Afro-pop influences, and a tendency toward intense, hypnotic jams? If we’re doing the math right, that equals 
Ron Asheton has been found dead at his Ann Arbor home today (January 6, 2009) of a reported heart attack. A founding member of The Stooges alongside his brother Scott Asheton and Iggy Pop, Ron played guitar on their 1969 debut and the following year's Fun House before switching to bass for 1973's Raw Power. When the band re-formed in 2003 he had returned to his favored instrument.
The primitive simplicity of Asheton's guitar playing was influenced by early rock 'n' rollers, and in turn cast a huge influence on legions of alternative and garage rock bands that followed in The Stooges' wake. Asheton was the cleanest living of The Stooges, and it is a horrible twist of fate that Iggy Pop, who spent most of the 70s on a one-way death trip, survives him. Iggy also gets the lion's share of the credits for The Stooges' seminal albums, but it was Asheton who provided the instrumental driving force for the band's amped up garage rock. He was also frequently overlooked as Pop's co-songwriter. In addition to his work with The Stooges, Asheton was also a member of proto-punk bands The New Order and New Race, and played alongside young pretenders Thurston Moore, Mark Arm, Mike Watt and J. Mascis on the soundtrack for the Todd Haynes' film Velvet Goldmine.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to The Stooges on EVR:
Last month, it was announced that 
Artsy-dancey UK outfit 
Justice - A Cross The Universe (Ed Banger/Atlantic)
For those who wondered whether French electro-dance crossover heroes 
Every Wednesday at 10 P.M., the fearsome crew that makes up the 
Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard died this morning, following a massive heart attack he suffered November 26. Arguably the best trumpeter of the generation immediately following Miles Davis, Hubbard worked as a teen with his fellow Indianapolis native Wes Montgomery before moving to New York in the late 1950s. A series of hard bop albums for Blue Note, Impulse! and Atlantic made his name, alongside his sideman work for Herbie Hancock and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He also appeared on classic albums like John Coltrane's Ascension and Oliver Nelson's The Blues and the Abstract Truth. In the 1970s, Hubbard recorded seven albums for Creed Taylor's fusion label CTI that are now among the label's least dated-sounding releases: Red Clay, a 1970 session with Hancock featuring a harrowing 10-minute take on John Lennon's heroin anthem "Cold Turkey," is a particular high point.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Freddie Hubbard On EVR:
Alice Russell - Pot Of Gold (Six Degrees)
Just because it took British neo-soul queen 
Many knew her only as the creepy-sexy Catwoman on the camp 60s Batman TV serial, but when Eartha Kitt died Christmas Day at the age of 81, the music world lost an icon of sultry elegance. Born of mixed race in the tiny farming town of North, South Carolina just prior to the start of the Great Depression, Kitt began her career as a dancer in New York City in the mid-'40s. Film roles and cabaret engagements followed, along with classic hit singles like her signature song "C'est Si Bon," the definitive version of the standard "Love For Sale" and the inescapable holiday classic "Santa Baby." Long recognized as a gay icon, she embraced that standing in the '80s, recording electro-dance hits like "Where Is My Man" and regularly performing at benefits for HIV/AIDS organizations. She's survived by a daughter, Kitt McDonald, and two grandchildren.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To Eartha Kitt On EVR:
As 2008 comes to a close, we here at East Village Radio want to take a moment to thank you, our listeners. 2008 was a big year for us, what with our fifth anniversary celebration, the premiere of the East Village Radio Music And Food Festival last September, and more great shows on the schedule than ever before. Not to give the surprises away too early or anything, but 2009 promises to be bigger still!
In the meantime, please enjoy our special all-day stream of holiday tunes chosen by your favorite EVR DJs on Christmas Day. And on New Years Day, we're planning a Year In Review that will feature the best songs of 2008 as chosen by the EVR staff. In between, we'll be featuring special four-hour blocks of some of our favorite shows: check back here at EVR News for details. We'll be back to our regular schedule on Monday, January 5.
Everybody's favorite gypsy punks 
Paul Weller -- At The BBC (Yep Roc)
Why piddle around with the two-disc version? If you’re digging into the 
December is traditionally a quiet time for new music and gigs in the UK, although anyone wishing to get into the festive spirit should head to the Brixton Academy to catch The Pogues' annual Christmas shows. Amid the usual holiday dross, notable single releases include the return of fey popsters The Boy Least Likely To with "The First Snowflake" and indie charmers The Wombats with "Is This Christmas." Meanwhile, Portishead are promoting their "Magic Doors" single with the limited release of an accompanying short film at select cinemas around the country. Last but not least, Hot Chip have released a four-track EP featuring contributions from the truly great Robert Wyatt and electronic duo Geese.
Meanwhile, an interesting chart battle is taking place for the UK's Christmas number 1 single. Alexandra Burke, the winner of this year's X Factor (an insanely popular reality TV show in the American Idol mode), has released a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallejuah." It is truly dreadful. Incensed, fans of Jeff Buckley have launched an internet campaign to promote his definitive version of the song. At the moment it looks likely to finish just behind Burke, but it has given a timely boost to Buckley's music. Laughing Len's original, incidentally, is also in the Top 20.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to The Boy Least Likely To on EVR:
Despite his three-volume Music For Films series, 
Stone Roses bass player Mani reports that the band could reform next year in celebration of their classic debut album's 20th anniversary: "It's the ideal time to do it. It's something I would love to do before we are all fat and bald. Start the campaign." The bassist told a British interviewer that guitarist John Squire and drummer Reni are into the idea, and that only frontman Ian Brown is holding out. Mani claims he's "working on" Ian whenever he sees his old bandmate at Man U matches. EVR fully supports this reunion, as long as it sounds like the "She Bangs the Drums" Stone Roses and not the Second Coming Stone Roses.
-- Stewart Mason
Listen To The Stone Roses On EVR:
Hot on the heels of the recent full-length Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl Records), 
Arcade Fire have completed 
The Smoking Gun has posted 
In a late entry for the "Most Awesome Cover Of 2008" sweepstakes, 
Sad news from the world of folk with the death of Davy Graham. Without doubt the most influential folk blues guitarist to emerge from the 1960s folk music revolution in England, Graham was a huge and lasting influence on artists such as Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, and Paul Simon. Simon was moved enough to call him "probably England's greatest guitarist", and was one of several who attempted to cover Graham's most memorable track, "Angi" aka "Anji." Graham disappeared from the music scene at the start of the 1970s, but overcame ill health and drug problems to re-emerge as a noted teacher and continued to play folk clubs. He died at his home in Scotland after a short battle with lung cancer.
-- Nic Oliver
Listen to Davy Graham on EVR:
The dates and lineup for 
Canadian alt-country chanteuse 
Earlier this year, two-thirds of retro-fab UK girl group the Pipettes (whose debut album We Are the Pipettes (Memphis Industries) was one of 2006's fizziest delights) split for "other musical pursuits." Usually, this is polite music-biz code for "You'll never hear from them again." But this week, 
