Morrissey "strikes again" suing NME

On the heals of announcing new tour dates and plans for two releases in 2008, Morrissey continues to churn the promotion machine with a defamation lawsuit over construed comments in a recent NME interview.

As reported by Pitchfork, in his interview with the NME, Morrissey was asked if he would return to live in England. What followed was his view of England's lost identity as opposed to other European countries that have been able to maintain their culture and charm.

Here's the quote from the NME article:

"Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears. So the price is enormous. If you travel to Germany, it's still absolutely Germany. If you travel to Sweden, it still has a Swedish identity.

"But travel to England and you have no idea where you are."

As this could be seen as an allegation against immigrants in the UK and a reason for not living there, there was a follow-up interview where Morrissey attempted to clarify his remarks. He further explained:

"It could be construed that the reason I wouldn't wish to live in England is the immigration explosion. And that's not true at all."

When all was said and done, the original quote made it into the article which didn't make the once pop idol turned modern-day crooner too happy. Morrissey demanded a printed apology, but didn't get it. Silly editors.

Cue the legal team!

What the hell is going on?

We've been away for a few weeks and have way too many things to post. So, here's a overview of the many things we would have posted had we been around to do so.

• Led Zeppelin release another "new" compilation and sell out tickets to a one off reunion show.

• Morrissey cancels his last date of his tour in Florida, signs a new record deal and announces new tour dates in France and the UK. A new album will be out next year.

• Radiohead confirm that they will tour in 2008

• My Bloody Valentine schedule reunion tour and release a digital EP.

• Quite Riot lead singer Kevin DuBrow was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment.

Many more things happening, including a Sigur Rós Heima screening in Salt Lake City, that will be posted soon.

Radiohead webcast shows band preparing for tour

Several youtube postings from last week's webcast are fueling the likelihood that Radiohead is close to announcing their upcoming tour.

Check out the videos below:





And our favorite from the session—a Smiths cover:

Sigur Rós release Heima

We at The BGLC have had several Memorable Music Moments over the years. Now, when we say Memorable Music Moment, we are specifically talking about the first time we listened to something knowing that it had changed us forever.

A few examples:

X - Under The Big Black Sun (1982)
Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain (1983)
Cocteau Twins - Sunburst and Snowblind (1983)
The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make? (1984)
Bryan Ferry - Boys and Girls (1985)
David Sylvian - Secrets of the Beehive (1985)
Love And Rockets - Express (1985)
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares - Volume One (1986)
All About Eve - Martha's Harbour (1988)
Low - Long Division (1995)

We can remember the first time we heard each of the above recordings. What's more, we remember details, seasons, locations, relationships and circumstances of those moments as well. If we were to play any of these albums today, we can seemingly go back in time and be (in our minds, of course) back to that place and time. Hopefully you have had this experience as well.

While a majority of music over the past decade or more has been a horrible cornucopia of suck, there has been one beam of hope that has produced several Memorable Music Moments for The BGLC over the last 7 years.

Of course we are speaking of Sigur Rós.

In October of 2000 we heard Flugufrelsarinn off of Ágætis byrjun for the first time on Nic Harcourt's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

We could not believe what we were hearing and immediately ordered the album online from their Icelandic label.

The band has built a large following over the years by opening for Radiohead, appearing on the Vanilla Sky soundtrack, picking up awards by the arm loads and dazzling audiences with their impressive live appearances.

As if the music and live performances weren't enough to fill your head with magical aural and visual bliss, Sigur Rós will up the ante this month with their first film release, Heima.

While many music critics will categorize the film simply as a "documentary", Heima is a rare opportunity to see and hear these amazing artists not only preform live, but do so shrouded by the back drop of the dramatic landscapes of Iceland.

Filmed during their travels and tour of Iceland from July 24th through August 4th of 2006, Heima captures a tour that "was free to all-comers and went largely unannounced. Playing in deserted fish factories, outsider art follies, far-flung community halls, sylvan fields, darkened caves and the hoofprint of Odin’s horse, Sleipnir (The huge horseshoe canyon at Ásbyrgi was, according to legend, formed by the hoofprint of this mythical beast), the band reached an entirely new spectrum of the Icelandic population; young and old, ardent and merely quizzical, entirely by word-of-mouth."

Falling somewhere between the visual beauty of Ron Fricke's Baraka and the captured magic of Dead Can Dance in Toward the Within, Heima gives the viewer a look into a band (and a nation) that is widely misunderstood and have yet to receive their proper respect.

One could argue as well that the Icelandic Tourist Board should be paying royalties to the band for the future boost in visitors that will soon be landing in Reykjavik entirely due to this film.

If you haven't heard of Sigur Rós, this is the perfect opportunity to familiarize yourself with your next favorite band. If you have heard of them, then make sure that you get out and buy this film to share it with someone—and create your own Memorable Music Moment.

The film, Heima will be released on DVD on November 20 in the US. In addition to the film, a double CD, of studio versions of previously unreleased songs and acoustic studio versions of songs already released, titled Hvarf-Heim will be available on November 6.

Heima trailer

Radiohead's In Rainbows - Live

Well, its been a few weeks since Radiohead stunned us all with the "pay what you want" release of In Rainbows. If you are like us, you've been playing it quite frequently. Maybe too frequently?

To give the album tracks a fresh feel, maybe you'd like to hear them played live?

Thanks to The Rawking Refuses To Stop, you have the opportunity to do just that.

The fine folks at the Los Angeles-based MP3 and pop culture blog have collected live versions of the songs featured on In Rainbows and the soon to be released bonus disc in one zip file (see blog post for Oct 2, 2007).

If downloading a live version of In Rainbows makes you feel naughty, you can always go back to the official site and pay a fee directly to the artist to ease your troubled conscience.

Kristeen Young dismissed from Morrissey tour

Let this be a lesson to everyone . . .

When Morrissey is on tour, make sure you check www.morrissey-solo.com EVERYDAY!

Kristeen Young, who has been opening for Morrissey for most of the shows supporting Ringleader of the Tormentors, has confirmed on morrissey-solo that she has been asked to leave the Morrissey tour.

During Tuesday's show in New York, Ms. Young made a statement (or series of statements) insinuating that she and Morrissey had engaged in sexually explicit acts. While it is assumed that she made these comments in a joking manner, with his family members reportedly in attendance, Morrissey was, as it turns out, not amused.

Here is her entire email statement as posted on morrissey-solo.com:

My band, KRISTEENYOUNG, have been asked to leave the Morrissey tour. Although I have been advised not to respond or issue a statement, my feelings are that I must. We have been asked to leave because of something I said on stage at The Hammerstein Ballroom, in New York City, this past Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the statement has been perceived as being profane (when, actually, one of the two words in question is a scientific term found in junior high, health class text books, and the other word, I feel most would agree, is lightweight slang) or defamatory. What I said was part of a thread of stage statements I made throughout our set. They were metaphorical and overstated to make an artistic point. The “offending” statement, in particular, was in no way a literal statement, and was very much in keeping with the tone of my writing in general. I reach for beauty and intelligence in my lyrics, but try to retain a bit of the everyday in them. Maybe the statement was a bit TOO everyday. Maybe I misjudged… but I meant no harm. I love Morrissey with all of my heart, soul, body, spirit, to the core of my existence and always will. These will be the only words I will ever write or speak on the subject ever again. Please don’t ask for an interview or e-mail me with questions.

-Kristeen
Friday, October 26, 2007=

For more information on what she said, you can go here. (Rated R for content)

Girl in a Coma will be opening the remainder of the tour dates.

For the record, we at TheBGLC actually enjoyed Kristeen Young's performance at the Morrissey show attended earlier this month. We found her to be less like the Dresden Dolls (as they were described to use before the show) and more like Kate Bush with a little more attitude—and an affinity for the "language of sailors" . . . apparently.

Hopefully her departure does not mark the end of her relationship with Morrissey's producer Tony Visconti.

More importantly, hopefully her departure does not mark the end of Morrissey's relationship with Tony Visconti.

Billy Bragg gets some long overdue respect

Long time punk/folk/social issue artist Billy Bragg was awarded the 2007 Classic Songwriter award this month at Britain’s biggest and most respected music event, the Q Awards.

As reported on the superb music blog, Parasites and Sycophants,
Bragg attended a gala performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The Queen was there to preside over the re-opening of the newly refurbished arts center, and the evening culminated in what is essentially collaboration between Bragg and Beethoven: a performance of the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, replete with lyrics penned by Bragg, written to commemorate the re-opening. The Queen loved the performance so much so that she requested a signed copy of the score from Bragg, who was happy to oblige.

With the respect of many fellow musicians (see Johnny Marr, R.E.M., Michelle Shocked, Wilco, etc.) its nice to see him get some recognition from the general public AND royalty.

On a side note, check out Parasites and Sycophants. The BGLC will be keeping an eye on them as a trusted source for excellent music reviews. Cheers!