What's with Sunset Junction?

It used to be a lot of fun: a sense of community, focus on the neighborhood in which it resides, and fun for the whole family. This year it featured a higher gate price and a worse lineup than usual. Sure, there were a couple of noteworthy performances, but overall it was lacklustre at best. There were far fewer families than years past (probably because it would have cost a family of four $60 for just one evening of quality time and vomit-inducing rides) and more people I know found ways to sneak and scam their way in to avoid the pay-hike. Cuz let's face it - the kids we run with are more interested in supporting their friends' bands and hanging with them all day than seeing an act that they can catch while in the VIP section of Coachella or ATP. And we usually don't have to pay $15 to hang with our friends.

Cuz we can't get enough of Beck

In anticipation of his upcoming release of all new material - seriously. this stuff was in the works even before Guero! - check out this video medley preview.

The Information is expected to hit the streets (hard!) October 10.

Rolling Stone took my headline

"Modest Marr." I swear I thought of it first, even if it took me a while to get to posting...

It's official. Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr is officially a member of Modest Mouse.

It was known for some time that Marr was lending a hand to Isaac Brock in writing and recording the follow up to Good News. Turns out that the Marr/Mouse combo became close during their stint at Mississippi's Sweet Tea studios (owned by Dennis Herring, who has also worked with Buddy Guy and Elvis Costello), and what started as "Let's write and record together," turned into, "Okay, let's tour together." Next thing they knew Marr was a Mouse.

Tour dates will be posted as they are announced.

Arthur Lee, R.I.P.

(from CNN.com)

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Arthur Lee, the eccentric singer/guitarist with influential 1960s rock band Love, has died in a Memphis hospital after a battle with leukemia, his manager said on Friday. He was 61.

"His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception," Mark Linn said in an email to Reuters. "He was confident that he would be back on stage by the fall."

Lee died on Thursday at about 5 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) at Methodist University Hospital with his wife Diane at his side, Linn added.

Lee, a Memphis native who referred to himself as "the first so-called black hippie," formed Love in Los Angeles in 1965, emerging from the same scene as groups like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, the Doors and the Mamas and Papas.

The first multiracial rock band of the psychedelic era, Love recorded three groundbreaking albums fusing traditional folk rock and blues with symphonic suites and early punk.

Bands as diverse as Led Zeppelin, Echo and the Bunnymen, and Siouxsie and the Banshees cited Love as an influence.

The band's self-titled 1966 debut yielded the hit single "My Little Red Book," written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach. The 1967 follow-up, "Da Capo," was one of the first rock albums to feature a song, "Revelation," that took up an entire side. "Da Capo" featured Love's only other Top 40 hit, "Seven & Seven Is."

The group's third release, 1967's "Forever Changes," which boasted adventurous horn and string arrangements, is considered Love's bold response to the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" album. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at No. 40 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Lee was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia this year. In May, facing certain death after three rounds of chemotherapy failed, he became the first adult in Tennessee to undergo a bone marrow transplant using stem cells from an umbilical cord, according to The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal.

Doctors said the procedure lifted his chances of survival only moderately, the newspaper said.

Several benefit concerts were held in Britain and the United States to help Lee with his medical bills. Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant headlined a benefit in New York in June.

Tired of Being Sexy

Or as they say it in Brazil: Cansei de Ser Sexy. Hot. But they obviously can't be that tired of it if they're singing songs like Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above (mp3). Another notable track (not to mention, cleared for download) is This Month, Day 10 (mp3).

I'm watching the funniest show - Gilmore Girls. I think it's a rerun. Sebastian Bach is in a band comprised almost entirely of college-aged kids. In this particular episode the lead singer adds a guy name Joel to the band to play tambourine (without consulting his bandmates) and then pulls a complete prima donna act prompting his guitarist (Bach) to tackle him, resulting in an all-out on-stage brawl. Did I mention there were label execs in the audience, and Joel's only memorable line was, "Dig!" If I have to admit that a major label/studio/corporation "gets it," it would have to be Warner Bros. Okay 2 - Virgin, too. Just cuz Richard Branson is my hero.