Bits: Shel Silverstein songs, Alan Moore opera, No Depression fest, save 924 Gilman, produce a Juniper Tar doc, RSD is crafty

  • Did you know that besides the poems that were so dear to many of us in our youth, Shel Silverstein was also responsible for songs like “A Boy Named Sue” and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone”? A cadre of folky and country artists have contributed to an album of Silverstein’s songs, called Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein, that will be released on June 8. Pitchfork has a couple of songs from contributors My Morning Jacket and Andrew Bird for you to listen to.
  • A favorite of NTSIB, writer Alan Moore is working with Damon Albarn and Gorillaz to produce an opera about magician/mathematician John Dee (if you are familiar with Moore, you know this is completely unsurprising), and Pitchfork has some info on that, too.
  • Another favorite of NTSIB is the venerable magazine-now-community-website No Depression, and they have announced the line-up for their always impressive festival. This year’s festival will include Swell Season, Lucinda Williams, Cave Singers, Punch Brothers, Alejandro Escovedo, Chuck Prophet and Sera Cahoone.
  • Respected punk venue 924 Gilman is in danger of closing down due to a ridiculous rent increase. Here’s what you can do to help keep it going.
  • High Frequency Media is planning a Juniper Tar tour documentary, and you can become a producer.
  • There’s a nice write-up of the Record Store Day activities in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood from a crafter’s perspective at the Jo-Ann Fabrics blog.

Yours Truly shares this video from SXSW of Nathaniel Rateliff playing “Boil & Fight”, but we’re particularly enamored of his rendition of Roger Miller’s “Oo-De-Lally” at the beginning.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11039579&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=b32bed&fullscreen=1

Nathaniel Rateliff “Boil & Fight” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Bits: Beastie Boys gearing up, new Teenage Fanclub album, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is everywhere, A.V. Club Undercover, Gorillaz + Jones & Simonon

  • The Beastie Boys put everything on hold when Adam Yauch was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his salivary glands, but now Yauch is recovering nicely, and the Beasties are planning to get back to it in September with the release of their latest album Hot Sauce Committee, Part One.
  • Also coming back, after a much longer hiatus, are Teenage Fanclub. They’ll be releasing Shadows on June 8th, and Pitchfork has a taste for you
  • The new Bonnie “Prince” Billy (with the Cairo Gang) album drops/is dropping/been done dropped today. Hot Chip celebrate by mixing the bonnie one’s vocals into “I Feel Bonnie”.
  • The A.V. Club have started a great series called “Undercover”. The premise: The A.V. Club has chosen a list of songs they’d like to see covered, and they’ve invited artists to come to their offices to cover a chosen song from the list… but the longer a band waits, the fewer songs they’ll have to choose from. The Fruit Bats’ cover of Hall and Oates’ “One on One” is fucking delightful, and we’re greatly looking forward to seeing who will cover Billy Squier’s “Everybody Wants You” and Guided By Voices’ “Game of Pricks”.
  • The Gorillaz are currently on a fans-only tour as they gear up for a monster Coachella performance. Manning the strings this time around? NTSIB heroes Mick Jones and Paul Simonon. Here’s the gang playing “Dare” with Jones looking goofier than we thought it was possible for him to look:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjWwQnnkhpE]