New MP3 from Black Mountain founders now playing as Lightening Bug

I'm a big fan of music that isn't always easy to stuff into a genre, which is why I found myself really digging the first mp3 off the sophomore album Infinite Light from the Vancouver duo Amber Webber and Joshua Wells, otherwise known as Lightening Dust.

As the founding members of Black Mountain, Webber and Wells as Lightening Dust create a sound that is less melancholy and more grounded in classical pop beats and upbeat vocal harmonies, which you can hear in the track "I Knew" below:

Lightening Bug - "I Knew"

Lucinda Williams tour stops by Green Bay

It's not often that we get a real musician up in my neck of the woods here in Northern Wisconsin, but that will change June 7 when Lucinda Williams drops by Oneida Bingo and Casino for a performance. Williams is touring in support of her latest album, Little Honey.

Since Brett Michaels is about the biggest act we get around here, the stop up from Williams is a pleasant surprise in an area generally devoid of any quality musical acts, especially for only a $10 entry fee. If you want an idea of what it's like to catch her live, check out this recent performance of "Real Love" on Letterman.

Lucinda Williams Tour Dates:

5/28: Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues
5/29: Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
5/30: Phoenix, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
6/01: Santa Fe, NM @ Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre
6/03: Denver, CO @ Denver Botanic Gardens
6/04: Boulder, CO @ Chautauqua Auditorium
6/06: Council Bluffs, IA @ Whiskey Roadhouse
6/07: ONEIDA, WI @ ONEIDA BINGO & CASINO - PAVILION NIGHTS
6/09: Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue
6/10: Covington, KY @ Madison Theatre
6/12: Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/14: Louisville, KY @ Brown Theater
6/15: Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note
6/17: Kansas City, KS @ Harrah's Casino
6/18: Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
8/18: Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre w/ Elvis Costello

Looking forward, Social Distortion will also be dropping by the Oneida Bingo and Casino July 31. You can grab tickets for that show starting tomorrow.

Vacation, all I ever wanted...

My backyard is bigger than your backyard...

Here in Northern Wisconsin, enjoying Day 3 of my prolonged Memorial Day vacation, along with what seems like half of Chicago. It always irks me that this town, a summer "resort town" if you will, turns into "Little Chicago" on the weekends with all the vacationers from Milwaukee and Chicago coming up to visit their cabins and hit the lakes for some fishing or jet skiing. It does help infuse some younger blood into the bar scene that is usually either dead or filled with people who are nearly dead from old age.

Since I don't feel like sharing the town this weekend, I'm heading over to Minneapolis with some friends to catch the Brewers-Twins Saturday night game, do a little shopping, and then pick the wife up at the airport. But before I start packing I've got some stuff to pass along for you to check out this weekend when you get tired of Uncle Roger trying to get you to go swimming with those annoying little nephews of yours.

Portland's Nurses set to release debut LP Apple's Acre on August 4


Portland pysch-pop trio Nurses will be releasing their debut LP Apple's Acre on August 4 through Dead Ocean, but you can have a listen to a track off the album titled "Caterpillar Playground," a light and whistling little tune that goes well with this warm sunny afternoon, below. We're normally not into the whole psych-pop stuff but this is a pretty catchy tune:

Nurses - "Caterpillar Playground"

Nurses have some upcoming June tour dates on the West Coast that you can check out on the band's MySpace page. If you can't catch a tour date, peep the band's blog to stay up to date on their happenings.

Josh Ottum new album out in fall

Staying in the Northwest, take a second to drop by the MySpace page of Seattle musician Josh Ottum. There you can stream a couple previously released tracks (our favorite is "It's Alright") that are as "refreshingly refreshing" as his MySpace page says. It's Beckish, but with a little Ben Folds, um, folded in. He's got a new album, Like Season, due out in September, so stay tuned to VLM in the future for more on his newest release.

What the @#$@ is a Tamagotchee?

This is a pretty terrible video and an equally terrible song but damn it's catchy. I only wish I knew what the hell a Tamagotchee was (edit: apparently it's a Japanese toy. I guess it would help if I read the email).

Cold War Kids Interactive Video for "I've Had Enough"

Head over to MTVMusic.com to check out the interactive Cold War Kids video for "I've Had Enough," directed by Sam Jones (same guy that did Wilco's "I am Trying to Break Your Heart").

It's pretty interesting because you can click on each member of the band to either have them play along or mute them - so if you're wondering what "I've Had Enough" might sound like should Nathan Willit go Jeff Tweedy on CWK and embark on his own tour here's your chance. Or how it might sound without drums. Play around with the video, it's cool.

Au Revoir Simone new album Still Night, Still Light, free track for grabs

As you've probably seen on Muzzle of Bees upcoming shows page, Brooklyn indie pop darlings Au Revoir Simone will be stopping by Madison June 24th to do a show at my favorite Wisconsin venue, the High Noon Saloon. We really hope you choose to attend as not only is it a great place to see a show but also because Au Revoir Simone are really good, like, apple pie in summer with a scoop of ice cream tasty good.

The band released its sophomore album Still Night, Still Light this week, and if you haven't run out and grabbed it yet, you should take advantage of the deal over at Amie Street where you spend $7.98 on the new album and get the entire Au Revoir Simone back catalog for FREE. In addition, you can stream all of the tracks at Amie Street before you buy.


As if that price wasn't enough to entice you to click Buy Now, here's a free track from the new album to wet your whistle:

Au Revoire Simone - "All or Nothing"

More info on the band available at their website.

Book Review: Pygmy, by Chuck Palahniuk

I picked up Chuck Palahniuk's new novel, Pygmy, this week after taking a couple of books off from one of my favorite authors. It was nice to see Palahniuk return to the more classical novel style - I had a really hard time wading through the multiple narratives in Haunted - so I was glad to see some linearity in this book at least. Of course, Palahniuk throws a curveball this time by altering the syntax of the language to reflect the language capabilities of his main character, Pygmy, a foreign exchange student/terrorist who has come to live with an American family.

It's a typical Palahniuk novel filled with deviant sexual acts and sordid language, but that's half the appeal. Palahniuk is ever the voyeur, and in this novel, he takes those voyeuristic feelings, pairs them with a modern day deviant sexuality, and turns the pages into a postmodern love story that only he could write. It's a pretty quick read at 200 some odd pages, even with the oddly constructed syntax, but as always, thoroughly enjoying.

As you may have noticed

Uh, yeah, we changed some stuff. More to come.

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a film critic

Nothing much music wise to talk about this weekend, at least as far as I'm concerned. So let's talk festivals. I'm a little disappointed with the lineup out there so far for Summerfest, easily Wisconsin's biggest non-country-music-dominated music festival of the year. Say that three times fast.

Summerfest usually has a couple of good nights given the wide variety of stages and the nightly headliners at the Marcus Amphitheater (we caught Stone Temple Pilots with Frank Black last year), but this year there's not a whole lot to warrant the 4 hour trip south for us.

Bon Jovi, Keith Urban with Counting Crows, Stevie Wonder, George Strait, Chicago with Earth, Wind, and Fire, Bob Dyland with Willie Nelson, No Doubt, Kenny Chesney, The Fray, and Kid Rock with Lynyrd Skynyrd are among the headliners, with the Dylan/Nelson combo the only one I would really pay to see anymore.

On the other stages, Rancid will be playing, as will Elvis Costello, The Roots, Matisyahu, Rusted Root, Joan Jett, Blues Traveler, The Offspring, Conor Oberst, Meat Puppets, and many more. But yet, I still feel...wanting. Regardless it's usually a pretty good festival because the acts are varied enough to be accessable and the tickets are cheap enough (under $20) that you can afford it. I suppose the price is about as cheap as I would find it to catch someone like Costello or Oberst solo anywhere else, but I might just end up skipping it this year.

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a film critic

Went out and caught Star Trek tonight, and I have to say, I was very impressed (as was Rotten Tomatoes, which gave it a 95%).


I was a little worried with the casting given the fact that the kid that played the younger Stifler would be taking over as James T. Kirk but he captured a sort of cockiness that fit the role well. Simon Pegg was great as Scotty. As was Zachary Quinto as Spock. And with the way the story was told it leaves open a vast future of possibilities that now don't have to fall in line with the old Star Trek storyline. The film was served capably by having director JJ Abrams at the helm, and certainly made for a "see in the theater" feel. Rent this at home and you will miss out on half of the beauty of the film. It's grand, shiny and new while still adhering to classic characters and storylines, and just might make a trekkie out of anyone.

Crystal Method drop new album, Divided By Night

It's been a pretty non-enjoyable week on most fronts, but tonight, I have to say, was pretty successful. Elements of a successful Thursday evening include: New Glarus Stone Soup (that's beer you all you non-Wisconsinites, and a pretty tasty one at that) and season finales of The Office and 30 Rock.

Success!

Crystal Method drop new album, Divided By Night


We're not huuuuge electronic fans, but we do love us some Crystal Method, even though we got introduced to them back when via The Spawn Soundtrack (lame, I know, right?).

Well just this week Crystal Method released their new album, Divided By Night. Unbelievably, you can snag the entire thing in mp3 format over at Amazon for just $2.99.

It's not Vegas by any means, with some songs really missing the mark for us ("Drown in the Now," with Matisyahu, who we normally enjoy, sounds too amateur for a pairing of such talent) but it's still good electronic fun. If you want to try before you buy, you can stream the entire album over at iLike. We've got it playing right now as a backdrop to the Lakers-Rockets game because it's undeniably better than the game commentary, if not as slick as Kobe's jumper.

Off for another Stone Soup.

Stopping by

Dear blog,

We haven't forgotten about you, we really haven't. Any neither have the 167 unread emails in our blog inbox. Hopefully we'll see you soon.

In the meantime, Ryan drove a couple hours West to the cities and saw The Boss. You can read about it here.

The National likes The Boss, as well. You can hear their cover of "Mansion on the Hill" over at Chromewaves.