The Post-Rockist

Cost of 500 analog reel-to-reel tapes, circa 1969: £7,500. Attempted retail price of said tapes in 21st Century Dutch black market: £250,000.  Discovering that the tapes composed the long lost original studio recordings of the Beatles’ Get Back Sessions: Priceless, according to authorities who recovered the tapes in a series of raids in West London and the Netherlands back in 2003.  The tapes capture The Beatles in Twickenham Studios in 1969, attempting to reconnect as men and to rekindle the original rock’n'roll flame that made the lads famous in the beginning.  Over 200 songs and covers were recorded, including takes on Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire,” Little Richards’ “Lucille,” Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” as well as songs by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly.  The album that emerged from these recordinds was later shelved, put in storage, and then mysteriously disappeared.  A year later, the album was put together by Phil Spector as Let It Be. 

An undercover sting operation nabbed Nigel Oliver, the 55 year-old former engineer at Twickenham Studios, in Slough, England, who was attempting to sell the tapes.  Evidence found at his home sparked a raid at a warehouse in the Netherlands, where the tapes were recovered along with George Harrison’s 1960 passport.  Oliver, who was found mentally unfit to stand trial, was sentenced last Friday to a two years supervision order for handling stolen goods.  Colin Dillon, 39, who was also arrested in the sting, was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence along with a two-year suspension. 

With the culprits now safely behind bars, or, wait… let off with a slap on the wrist, we can all pray that Sir Paul will put this tawdry divorce business behind him and focus all his energies on culling numerous box sets of alternate Get Backs and studio banter from these reels and reels of previously unreleased goodness.

Speaking of previously unreleased bootlegs resurfacing, The Sex Pistols’ Spunk is finally getting a proper release.  The album was recorded with the band’s original line-up, featuring Glen Matlock’s melodic, ABBA-inspired bass riffs, and was produced by Dave Goodman in 1977.  The album originally surfaced as an under-the-counter vinyl bootleg and captures the famously overrated punk band honing their chops with polish and sheen.  Spunk was re-released in the UK July 17, 2006, and will see American shores August 15.  For fans who weren’t turned on by the Pistol’s disappointing live reunion disc and other cash grabs, they might get off to this tracklist:

01 Seventeen
02 Satellite
03 Feelings (aka No Feelings)
04 Just Me (aka I Wanna Be Me)
05 Submission
06 Nookie (aka Anarchy In The U.K.)
07 No Future (aka God Save The Queen)
08 Problems
09 Lots Of Fun (aka Pretty Vacant)
10 Liar
11 Who Was It (aka EMI)
12 Looking For A Kiss (aka New York)
13 Anarchy In The Uk (Denmark Street Demo, July 76)
14 Pretty Vacant (Denmark Street Demo, July 76)
15 No Fun (Unedited Version, Oct 76)

The Hold Steady are ready to release a follow-up to 2005’s magnificently Springsteenian Separation Sunday. Entitled Boys and Girls of America, the album will be available October 3 as the group’s first offering from Vagrant Records, their third album overall.  John Agnello, who has previously worked with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Mr. Bob Dylan, produced the record.  One can’t even begin to speculate what the drug-fueled, religious-tinged story arch will be this time with these song titles:

01 Stuck Between Stations
02 Chips Ahoy!
03 Hot Soft Light
04 Same Kooks
05 First Night
06 Party Pit
07 You Can Make Him Like You
08 Massive Night
09 Citrus
10 Chillout Tent
11 Southtown Girls

A proper tour will follow the album’s release, but in the meantime we can expect to see a multitude of casualties at the following locations:

07.27.06 New York, NY - Castle Clinton
07.29.06 Albany, NY - Valentine’s
07.30.06 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rossa
07.21.06 Toronto, Ontario - Lee’s Palace
08.02.06 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place
08.03.06 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Festival
08.04.06 Milwaukee, WI - Shank Hall
08.06.06 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08.08.06 Lancaster, PA - Chameleon Club  

Dot Allison also figures in to the “new album” news bin with her forthcoming EP Beneath in the Ivy, being released on Universal Digital.  The electro-folk chanteuse, largely popular due to her work with the band One Dove, as well as her collaborations with Massive Attack and Death In Vegas, has been under the radar since 2002’s We Are Science.  Producer Andrew Weatherall describes the sound of the new EP as “The Velvet Underground meets Emmylou Harris.”  We will have to wait until August 28 to see how accurate that actually is.  For now, the pre-glow:

01 Quicksand
02 Blade of Words
03 Paper Rose

The Clientele have announced a full-scale American invasion.  The Hampshire trio will be lulling stateside audiences with heavily reverberated, gauzy pop melodies beginning in August. Make your travel plans accordingly and remember to dress comfortably:

08.02.06 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
08.03.06 Arlington, VA - IOTA Club & Cafe
08.04.06 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
08.05.06 Mt. Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern
08.06.06 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
08.08.06 Nashville, TN - The Basement
08.09.06 New Orleans, LA - TBA
08.10.06 Baton Rouge, LA - Red Star Bar
08.11.06 Houston, TX - Walters on Washington
08.12.06 Denton, TX - Hailey’s 
08.13.06 Austin, TX - The Parish
08.16.06 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
08.17.06 Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room
08.08.06 Nashville, TN - The Basement
08.18.06 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
08.19.06 Los Angeles, CA - The Knitting Factory
08.21.06 Visalia, CA - Howie and Son’s
08.22.06 San Francisco, CA - Cafe Du Nord
08.24.06 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
08.26.06 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey 
08.29.06 Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar 
08.30.06 Chicago, IL - The Abbey
08.31.06 Detroit, MI - The Magic Stick
09.01.06 Cleveland, OH - The Grog Shop
09.02.06 Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place   
09.05.06 New York, NY - Knitting Factory     

If soft, melodic pop ain’t yer bag, perhaps you would be enervated to witness Staten Island’s finest return to the tour circuit.  With solo albums by Method Man, Masta Killa, the GZA, and Raekwon all slated to appear later this year, The Wu-Tang Clan plans to join forces once again for a brief, 19-stop and assuredly non-fuckwithable tour, their first since last year’s tribute to ODB.

Bring da ruckus:

08.03.06 Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theater
08.04.06 San Diego, CA - Street Scene Festival
08.05.06 San Bernardino, CA - NOS Events Center (Rock the Bells)
08.06.06 Pleasanton, CA - Alameda County Fairgrounds
08.08.06 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
08.09.06 Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
08.11.06 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
08.12.06 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
08.13.06 Detroit, MI - Chene Park
08.16.06 Providence, RI - Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel
08.17.06 New York, NY - Webster Hall
08.18.06 New York, NY - Webster Hall
08.19.06 Philadelphia, PA - Penn’s Landing
08.20.06 Winston-Salem, NC - Corpening Plaza
08.23.06 Saint Petersburg, FL - Jannus Landing
08.24.06 Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
08.25.06 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
09.01.06 Berlin, Germany - Arena Berlin Treptow
10.28.06 New Orleans, LA - Voodoo Music Experience

Finally, a word from our Romance Department: Avril Lavigne and her beloved Sk8er Boi, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, rang alternative wedding bells this weekend.  No word yet on when the young couple intends to make non-conformist babies.