David Byrne is coming to my office!

Ok, it's not the real David Byrne, it's some guy named David Byrne from our Swiss office. But I'm still enjoying hearing the chatter about it and pretending. Maybe he leads a double life as a Swiss client service representative . . .

St. Vincent

Annie Clark of St. Vincent talks about being a woman in rock, and why it's so not a big deal.

Oh yes, I will be going to this.

Piracy costs everyone

Gaper's Block on: 7 crimes that cost you less than downloading music.

Ramona Falls

Brent Knopf, keyboardist for Menomena, has a new solo project called Ramona Falls that has a debut album, Intuit, coming out this week. It's streaming in full now! So far, the album sounds great. If that's not enough, Ramona Falls is touring this fall, with a stop at the Chopin Theatre on September 11 and Menomena drummer Danny Seim tagging along to support with some bass action. I will be there.

Musical Docs

One of the more interesting press releases I've seen in awhile:

N.E.D. (an acronym for No Evidence of Disease) is a rock band with a purpose: composed entirely of six musically talented gynecologic cancer surgeons hailing from all four corners of the U.S. The doctors are full time, practicing surgeons, researchers, and professors who moonlight as musicians in hopes that their music can improve the quality of life of patients and anyone potentially touched by women's cancers.

New York-based Motema Music spearheaded the production and recording of their album which will be released on September 8th to coincide with the first annual Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. Producer Mario McNulty (David Bowie, Linkin Park, Ziggy Marley) worked closely with the band to create these first-class recordings. The music and lyrics are original, written by members of the band who worked together primarily through video conference.

Sonically, N.E.D.’s EP blends a wide range of folk, arena, and indie rock, and demonstrates pure female vocals likened to Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary and Christine McVie. Lyrically, the music brings a fresh and sympathetic approach to issues of life and death faced by cancer victims and their families. Net proceeds from the sale of the CD will be donated to the N.E.D. Cancer Foundation in association with the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation (GCF) to support public education about gynecologic cancers and to fund promising research projects and programs.

And check out the badass picture of the band! Where do they find the time?

Potbellies

Good news for the hipster male who has put on a few pounds lately- hipster potbellies are in! Ladies, continue to keep it in check, as always.

Schubas #2

Looks like the owners of Schubas, brothers Mike and Chris Schuba, are opening a new mid-size venue called Lincoln Hall this fall. The new club will be at 2424 N. Lincoln (formerly Three Penny Cinema), a decidedly un-indie neighborhood. It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of acts they bring in, and what effect its opening will have on the neighborhood. While the article does point out there are a lot of similarly sized venues already (Double Door, Logan Square Auditorium), it's undeniable that most of the bands that start at Schubas eventually outgrow it, so it should be easy for them to keep booking the same bands at the larger venue. What that means for other venues is another story, though really, Double Door and Logan Square Auditorium aren't exactly ideal spaces for sound anyway. Seeing as Schubas is my favorite venue in the city, this should be a good thing for the city's music scene.

Reefer Duberland Part II?

Very cryptic after-party announcement on the part of the Metro. Some special show is playing on Sunday, August 9 at midnight, and three symbols are apparently the clue to who. Pitchfork has the details on the supposed supergroup. Tickets go on sale Thursday, August 6 at 10am.

I remember the last time some sort of cryptic show was announced that ended up being a supergroup of sorts. I won't fall for that again!