Hah! I scoff at your ATP full of all those bands who have already played ATP fourteen times before. Instead I will be at TRIPTYCH 2007, the annual music and films festival taking place simultaneously in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen (hence the name) over April 25-29.

Just lookee at that line-up! Damo Suzuki, CSS, Erol Alkan, Evan Parker, Ute Lemper, Pajo, Cat Power, Einsturzende Neubauten, Bobby Conn, The Pastels, Field Music, Cinematic Orchestra, Electrelane, Gruff Rhys, Bat For Lashes, Fujiya & Miyagi, Errors, Park Attack, Paper Cut Out, 65daysofstatic and more more more. Plus a special show tieing in with the Ballads of the Book thing Simon mentioned on here featuring the likes of Sons & Daughters, Idlewild, Norman Blake, King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts, Emma Pollock and Aidan Moffat.

I literally can’t wait. Full show line-ups, info, tickets and streaming music available now at www.triptychfestival.com.

From a recent mailout to the Wolf Eyes/Hanson Records mailing list…

Hey everyone,

On the morning of Feb 24th my brother Peter Young was in a fire. He
was injured with 2nd and 3rd degree burns on 30-44% of his body.
Neighbors reported seeing him coming out of his apartment unharmed
only to see him run back in to save his dog Little John. The smoke and
heat over took Pete as soon as he reentered the apartment. Pete was
found unconscious and burning by Brighton Police and Fire Department
who rushed him over to the U of M hospital. His apartment was
completely destroyed and Little John did not make it. Pete has no
medical insurance or insurance on his apartment which he owns. He is
undergoing surgery for skin grafts and has not been conscious yet. He
will be in the hospital for at least 2-3 months.

I am asking for donations to help my family with some of the medical
bills and the rebuilding of his apartment. I have set up a paypal
account in Pete’s name.
There are over 1000 members on this board, if everyone donates at
least $1 that will be a big help.

Please paypal donations to Peter.B.Young (at) gmail (dot) com
Please try to pay the paypal fee if paying from a credit or debit card.

Pete first introduced me to punk, psychedelic rock and noise – the
music that inspired me the most as a kid. He also painted the cover
for the first Wolf Eyes album released on Bulb. Without him Wolf Eyes
may not have ever existed. I hope you’ll help me give him something
back.

With much thanks,
Nate Young

This, from a recent e-mail I received from a press agency:

—

Hi Simon,

How are you?

I am working with Danish model/singer/presenter Anine Bing who is soon to be launching a new webiste featuring some of her best shots and her tracks form her forthcoming album. It will also feature a forum area where fans can chat directly to Anine.

Anine is best known in this country for the Ellesse ad that featured her cavorting in the rain on a tennis court with a male model. The picture was banned on billboards due to a large amount of crashes due to distracted drivers, and helped propel Anine into the FHM 100 sexiest women list!

Outside of the UK Anine is a huge star. Working in Los Angeles as the presenter of a top celebrity entertainment show, she has been linked to the likes of Jim Carrey, Tobey Maguire and Anders Svensson.

I wanted to know if you would consider running a news piece on the launch of the site. I thought it would be suitable for your readers as they will be able to chat directly to Anine and the site will have some great pics (examples attached).

If you could let me know your thoughts I would really appreciate it!

—

So readers, I consider this a news piece. Is it suitable for you?

So it seems that NME, the “world’s greatest rock weekly” (a quote that would have applied pre-1990 more readily than it does today) wants a new features editor:

Department: NME
Contact: To apply please complete the following potential cover feature treatment for three bands: The Twang, My Chemical Romance and Razorlight

– Cover photo concept/structure
– Main cover sell
– Feature picture concept
– Feature headline
– Feature sell
– Brief for the feature with word count
– Two potential feature pull-quotes

Include a CV and email to: editor@nme.com

Closing Date: 23rd February 2007
Email: editor@nme.com
Reference: (M&S608)

(Also see here)

Get your applications in today, people, and you could be hyping the next flash-in-the-pan self-created ‘scene’ within weeks. Bring on New-Nu-Post-Rave!

In other news, the new IPC Media logo has effortlessly repositioned them into what looks like a local graphic design company from the mid-1980s.

Just heard about this on the radio. ‘Ballads of the Book’ is a new project featuring collaborations between a variety of Scottish musicians and writers – Idlewild, Norman Blake, King Creosote, Sons and Daughters, Ian Rankin, Edwin Morgan and lots more. A good idea? A vaguely-famous-people vanity project? An affirmation of Scottish culture and originality?

More here: http://www.idlewild.co.uk/html/ballads.html

I’ve mentioned a couple of Northern Star Records-related things on diskant.net before (here and here). They’re a weirdo experimental/psychedelia/nuthouse label with connections to and releases from The Telescopes, Stevenson Ranch Davidians, Silver Apples and Brian Jonestown Massacre, so it’s good to know that on 15 November they’ll be launching an MP3 shop so that all you heads can get your lysergic hits in a download style.

Find out more here.

Story here.

“All music sold through iTunes uses the FairPlay system that restricts the use of the downloads. Purchased music can only be moved between five computers and played on an Apple iPod.

Downloads cannot be transferred to players made by other manufacturers, such as Creative or Sony.

The new “workaround” could help companies like these sell iTunes compatible products that could start to scratch away at the iPod’s dominance.”

According to various news sources, The Pixies, having played every venue on the planet during their two-years of “comeback” touring, are planning on going into the studio to record a new album.

I am quite excited – they were, in my opinion, the best rock band ever to walk the Earth, and while I don’t much care for Frank Black’s recent solo outings, The Breeders are still a force to be reckoned with. I am, however, preparing myself for disappointment.

What do you think? Cause for celebration or car-crash waiting to happen?

Bill Drummond presents No Music Day

http://hootpage.com/hoot_wattstooges2006record.html
COME ON!!!!!!!!!