Nu Rave Brain Wave

I just spent the past 25 minutes of my life checking out this fucking radical video that Vice is putting out in three parts over the next two days, and then will air in it’s entirety on the 25th. It’s called New Garage Explosion: In Love With These Times and it’s basically most of my favorite bands talking about other bands that I really like. You get to hear about/from Jay Reatard, Black Lips, Thee Oh Sees, and Ty Segall (well, and many more, but I love them!). It’s focusing on the garage communities in San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, New York, Memphis, Atlanta and Portland. Notably, and sadly, excluded is Los Angeles. This is absolutely worth 25 minutes of your time. Watch it.

Autopsy results released this morning in the death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard reveal that he died from “cocaine toxicity, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death,” according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Karen E. Chancellor.

Sad times.

Download -> Jay Reatard – Gamma Ray (Beck Cover)

Enjoy Jay’s Nirvana cover as much as I am today…

mp3 | Jay Reatard – Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (Nirvana Cover)

Update: 01/14/10 6:30pm: According to the Fox Memphis, “Memphis Police are searching for a possible suspect in Wednesday’s death of Memphis musician Jay Reatard at his Cooper-Young home. Officers were called to the 900-block of Meda around 3:30am and found 29-year old Jimmy Lindsey, Jr., also known as Jay Reatard, dead on arrival. The Homicide Bureau is handling this as an ongoing investigation.”

mp3 | Jay Reatard – Gamma Ray (Beck Cover)

29 is too young. You will be missed.

I am going to ignore the fact that this is a complete corporate sell out for all the bands involved, but hey, Jay/Black Lips/King Khan are a little older now, they don’t shit and spit (well…) on each other that much more these days, and HEY, it can’t be cheap paying for an apartment that you never live in, but regardless, the best bands in the world will be playing the free Scion Garage Fest, coming to Portland, Oregon on October 17.

The festival will go down at four venues: Satyricon, Berbati’s Pan, Someday Lounge, and Dante’s. Roky Erickson, the former 13th Floor Elevators frontman and general all-around psych-rock O.G., will headline. The bill also includes Black Lips, Jay Reatard, the King Khan and BBQ Show, the Almighty Defenders (the supergroup featuring the Black Lips, King Khan, and Mark Sultan), the Dirtbombs, the Deadly Snakes (reunited!), Simply Saucer, the Dutchess and the Duke, Harlem, Box Elders, the Beets, Fresh & Onlys, the Coathangers, and many others.

http://www.scion.com/garagefest/

Waiting For Something – a short documentary about Jay Reatard

Mmm, the Jay Reatard documentary…. I dunno how I feel about it. Obviously, I like Jay and his Music (I feel like it deserves a capital M because the people in this documentary sure as hell take this shit seriously) but um… he’s not the most intelligent guy in the world – he’s got some brain cells but uh, he kinda comes off like a dick in this for the first half. He’s supposed to be like, a normal guy who plays music but he kind of comes off like a pariah in this. Like OOO, poor you, you have to tour all the time, and make music and do what you love and get paid. How sad. Then things look up. Overall a good watch, very interesting.

The greatest quote ever, though, possible, comes from Stephen, “I still don’t really know how to play bass. If you asked me to jam in the key of A, I’d just eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich.”

Jay is doing the series of all-ages free shows in order to “give back” to independent record stores that have supported him, according to a web posting on his record label Matador. These are the only dates he has scheduled on the West Coast.

The shows will also mark the release of his forthcoming album ‘Watch Me Fall’, which is due out in the US on August 18.

Jay Reatard will play:

Los Angeles, CA Amoeba Music (August 18)
Long Beach, CA Fingerprints (19)
San Diego, CA M-Theory (20)
Santa Cruz, CA Streetlight Records (21)
San Francisco, CA Amoeba Music (22)
Berkeley, CA Amoeba Music (23)
Jackpot Records (25)
Portland, OR Easy Street Records (26)
Seattle, WA Sonic Boom Records (27)
Vancouver, WA Zulu Records (28)

The brand new Jay Reatard album is called Watch Me Fall and it’s out on August 18 on Matador Records. The first single is “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” and you can download it on www.jayreatard.com.

He’s added some South American dates:
June 2 VICE Magazine Brasil Launch at TD Eventos, Sao Paulo
June 4 VICE Magazine Argentina Launch at Excursionistas Athletic Club, Buenos Aires

But most importantly, he’s playing the Echo on June 12. I expect your presence. It’s gonna be a good ‘un