Featuring Devo vs. McDonald’s, Nine Ince Nails gets physical and your chance to play with Coldplay

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Devo are furious over New Wave Nigel, an American Idol-themed McDonald’s Happy Meal toy. Devo bassist Gerald Casale, who designed the famous Devo energy dome chapeau, says the design is trademarked and patented, and no one approached the band for consent. “Plus, we don’t like McDonald’s,” says Casale, “and we don’t like ‘American Idol,’ so we’re doubly offended.”
 
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I was on a mission to see just how un-jazz I could make my jazz festival experience this year, so I hauled ass to The Mod Club (722 College) on Wednesday night to see turntablist extraordinaire RJD2 (aka Philadelphia’s Ramble John “RJ” Krohn).

Sadly, when I got there, the gentleman checking names at the door informed me that there were to be absolutely no photos of RJ himself. In order to get my camera in, I had to swear on a stack of vintage funk and R&B vinyl (and all else that is sacred) that I’d comply. Not wanting to violate any personal beliefs about soul theft, I contented myself with digging the tunes and shooting the openers.

TO’s DJ T-Lo kicked it off with a 2-table set mixing up a lot of deeply funky hip hop records (lots of Tribe in the mix). Cool grooves, very laid back.

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In this new column, we talk to musicians, sometimes about the music they make, sometimes about whatever tangent they happen to go off on. And once in a while we may talk to non-musicians as well, just to keep you on your toes.

We’re going to kick the whole thing off this week with ten things you ought to know about one of the busiest musicians in town, guitarist Reg Schwager.

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Featuring Shawn Fogel and Radiohead

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Friend of gitpop Shawn Fogel has been busy in the studio lately with producer Peter Katis (Spoon, The National and Mates of State) working on a follow-up to last September’s One Day in the Desert EP. The record is slated for release in early 2009, but you can get a sneak peak by downloading this MP3 - “The Fight at the End of the Tunnel.” Also, if you happen to be in New York City on Monday night, you might want to go to The Mercury Lounge (217 E Houston) where Shawn will be playing with Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide), Ferraby Lionheart and Brian Bonz. Tickets are $12.
 
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Featuring RJD2, The Shins, a Huey Lewis tribute album and more kid’s stuff!

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There was no daily dose yesterday. Sorry, but my internet was down most of the day. It pretty much crashed right after the podcast went up.
 
I just wanted to give a big shout out to my recent visitors from the UK (hello), Germany (guten Tag) and Australia (g’day).
 
Also, The Travelling Band contest is now closed. Congrats to the winners!
 

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Tomorrow night I’ll be taking in RJD2 at the Jazz Fest (it’s not all jazz). He’s giving his band the night off so he can kick it old school with four turntables! Look for pictures and a review on Thursday. [Update: June 26 - Photos were not allowed for RJ's set, so the review won't have any pics of him.]
 
The Shins have decided to no longer be a Sub Pop band. The next record will be see frontman James Mercer’s label, Aural Apothecary, covering pressing and ditribution, allowing the band to own their own masters, with “a label partner that will assist with additional marketing, radio, and various costs,” according to the bands manager, Ian Montone. That partner could very well end up being Sub Pop, though. Says Megan Jasper, Sub Pop’s general manager, “we’d love to continue working with them.”
 
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Episode #1: North by Northeast An audio recap of my NXNE experiences featuring tracks by The Books Elusive, Run with the Kittens, Mad Staring Eyes, Grace Emilys, Monotonix, and The Travelling Band, plus an interview with Grand Analog!

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Dr. John and The Wild Magnolias bring N’awlins to TO

Last night at Nathan Phillips Square, the 22nd annual Toronto Jazz Festival officially kicked off with a wild night of music and dance from New Orleans.

For me, June has been a month of opening bands that are hard to follow, but I think The Wild Magnolias might be one of the biggest spectacles I have ever seen. When you get three guys across the front of the stage dressed up in full Mardi Gras Indian costumes, it would still be a great show if the band didn’t even play a note.

This New Orleans combo is wickedly talented, though, and they burned down a funky bunch of N’awlins standards like “Iko Iko” and “Big Chief” that had the arguably older, more reserved Toronto crowd on their feet and dancing in the aisles for most of the set.

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Featuring Dr. John, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bill O’Reilly (I sh*t you not), The Creaky Boards vs. Coldplay and Motley Crue (again, not kidding)

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I picked up my media pass for the Toronto Jazz Festival Today. Going to check out Dr. John tonight!
 
Michael Franti and Spearhead won’t be unleashing their new album until September, but their new video for the track “Hey World (Remote Control Version)” can be seen at Spinner right now. If you like the track enough to buy it through iTunes, click here.
 
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I was just thinking to myself that I’ve gone just about long enough without a new Ben Folds record. Fortunately for me, the wait will soon be over.

“Errant Dog”
 
It turns out that Mr. Folds has a new record dropping this fall, and when he played Bonnaroo last week he played three tunes from the new record. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, we’ve got them all (until Prince has them yanked).
 
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Featuring Richard Underhill, lo-bat et al vs. Crystal Castles, Santo Gold vs. Santogold, Sigor Rós, Weezer and Biz Markie

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I was reading the National Post today (they gave me one when I went for an oil change), and was pleasantly surprised to see friend of gitpop Richard Underhill talking about the etiquette of after hours jazz jams: “If someone requests ‘Summertime,’ of course, that’s a $50 surcharge for everybody in the band.”
 
Crystal Castles have finally responded to allegations of sample theft (some of which were made by me). Apparently they’ve made peace with all artists involved and are organizing a compilation of their fave 8-bit tunes to be released on their label. Still no official word from lo-bat (all attempts to email him for comment resulted in bounced messages).
 
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