Bolt of Blue

Ash has released their new single Return of White Rabbit online for download. It’s fun, catchy, and very infectious. Typical Ash in that way but the song has a more electro sound that definitely moves away from their last album release Twilight Of The Innocents.

You can download the song for free on their website. The limited edition 7″ is already sold out of course.

Starting in October and with the letter A, the band will release a new single every 2 weeks running through the alphabet. All 26 songs will from the “A-Z series” of singles… since they are not going to be releasing full length albums anymore. No longer chained to a major label, they’re doing this through their own Atomic Heart Records and using their website to distribute their music.

It’s been two years since their last album… and coming in the fall, I can’t wait to get new Ash songs every 2 weeks. Talk about getting spoiled. I wonder if there are any bands out there watching to see how this works out.

Concert meme from parlance.

First concert?
New Kids on the Block, Magic Summer Tour, September 14, 1990 at Dodger Stadium. 60,000 sold out. 2nd row seats. INSANE.
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I will post soon about the Ash and PP shows. They were fun… comedy… adventurous. I miss Ash so much already. For now… snagged from Kim:

Post the names of 20 of your favorite musicians
See who can guess which is your favorite song by each.
Once someone guesses right, bold that row and include the song.

1. Duran Duran – The Chauffeur
2. Blur
3. James
4. Ash
5. Phantom Planet – All Over Again
6. New Order
7. Fiona Apple
8. Madonna
9. Coldplay – The Scientist
10. The Cure
11. Jeff Buckley
12. French Kicks
13. Franz Ferdinand
14. Interpol
15. Pet Shop Boys – Always On My Mind
16. Joy Division
17. The Hives
18. Radiohead
19. The Rapture – Out of the Races and On to the Tracks
20. Weezer

Whew… quite a few left off the list but there it goes. Anyone want to play?

Zoe is back with a spiffy new domain. So pretty.

The more I hear about Coachella and the possible line up, the more I feel meh about the whole thing. Part of me wants to go. And seeing New Order live would make a dream come true. However, a lot of the bands supposedly playing I’ve seen plenty of times before. And it’s a lot of money. And it’s in the middle of the desert and super dooper ridiculously hot. And it’s during the Star Wars line. So I don’t know. Monday they announce the line up. Maybe I’ll finally get excited when I hear the full details.

One thing I’m extremely jumping around excited about is seeing Ash in March. I’ll be going to at least 3 shows. San Diego on March 25 and here at the Troub on March 26 and 27. The Bravery are opening for them so double the fun. CAN’T FRICKIN’ WAIT!

Oh… ORC! It was one crazy, busy, and fun weekend! I worked almost the entire time, which I was expecting, and didn’t see any of the actor panels, not that I cared. Just 5 minutes of being near all the fan girls that attended the convention and I was more than glad I spent the majority of my time in the sanctity of the art show. It was quiet and festive and filled with gorgeous Tolkien inspired artwork. And I got to meet Daniel Falconer, Ted Nasmith, Colleen Doran, and Tim Kirk along with many other amazing artists. I got two amazingly rad prints by Colleen and 1 amazing piece of art by an incredible amateur artist Olga Bosserdt.

I tried reading a lot of live journal accounts of ORC to get some idea what people thought of it and maybe see if anyone had comments about the art show itself. But I had to give up. The fan girl gushing was really giving me a headache. And the whole slash nonsense. If I only posted the things I know and have experienced, a lot of people’s fantasy worlds would dissolve. I wanted to read more Tolkien fan responses not just gushing about how cute Billy and Dom were when they hugged on stage. I think in time, the types of fans who come to ORC are going to change because we’re doing this next year and want to make it a big annual convention. There was a strong fan community for Tolkien before the movies and after the movie hype dies down, there will continue to be fans of all ages who are not just there to scream over a cute actor. Ok, enough ranting on that.

All in all, I think we did a great job running the art show and certainly learned a lot of what to do and not do for next time. I did get to enjoy a few things like the Women in Middle Earth panel (next time they need to talk about Ent-wives!). There was certainly an intimacy at this event that a big one like Comic Con does not allow for. And I’m actually quite happy and proud with my part in the event. It was great to see the entire convention turn out to be so successful!

Oh… one more oh! My wedding dress is now in at the shop. I think I’m going tomorrow to pick it up with my mom. Happy day!

Lots of cool happenings in the music world.

First up… Ash’s latest album Meltdown is FINALLY getting a release in the US. From Filter:

Record Collection is proud to announce the US release of ASH’s new album Meltdown on March 8th 2005. The album’s release will coincide with a new Lucas Arts Star Wars videogame Republic Commando that features ASH’s single “Clones” as the theme song. This marks the first time Lucas Arts has ever used a band’s song in anything Star Wars related. The US release will feature exclusive bonus tracks and DVD footage not available on the European full length version of Meltdown.

Ash will tour the US in support of Meltdown this Spring.

Such Star Wars geeks. Love it!

Also from Filter:

According to BBC’s Channel 4, the newest album from post-Joy Division legends New Order will be released in February. The scheduled title is No Pain No Gain.

Oh, and I get to see the Hives tomorrow. And Elefant and the French Kicks are doing shows next month. Fun times ahead!

Last week, we found out that Tim Wheeler from Ash was going to perform at Spaceland with Matt Sharp. Of course, we had to be there.

It was quite the fun night. Josh Homme was there with Brody Armstrong to check out opening band Millionaire. They were so loud in such a small place I thought my head was going to explode. Once we got earplugs, all was well and the band was pretty good. Very rock but had good beats and an insane lead singer in the Craig Vines mold.

Geoff Martyn also performed for like an hour. This caused the whole set times to be off and Tim and Matt got on stage much later than expected.

Mark was there. And I attacked him. No. I didn’t. But I did talk with him about the new Ash album. He said they were 3 weeks away from completing it and it was coming along really well. He also said they would be back in the States as soon as February for a proper tour. Tim showed up as we were chatting and it was so nice to see him again. At that point, some bloke comes up and introduces himself to me. It’s Ben Lee. I’m like uh, right. I know who you are. I’m seeing you next week open for Phantom Planet. He told me not to expect much from him and he hoped he would not disappoint. Later on in the evening, he was nice enough to let me have a sip from his beer after I had the worst tasting flavor of corn nuts I’ve ever had the misfortune to try. I also got to tell him how much I loved his cover of The Reflex he did with Kylie. Ben was really sweet to chat with.

Tim and Matt performed some songs together acoustically. Tim starting things off with a few old and new Ash songs. He then retreated to let Matt take over for a while, coming back to do a rad rendition of Burn Baby Burn. Tim teased me after that I was rocking out when it was acoustic, but I said I can’t help it! I’m sorry, but that song makes me dance, acoustic or otherwise. Finally met their manager Tav who showed off his huge new tattoo and told us we had to come to London to see Ash sometime. Played a round of guessing Star Wars tattoos with Mark, who surprisingly guessed ours correctly after some hints. Also, finally got a photo with Mark though I look stupid. I also look stupid in our group shot with Tim. I’m a nerd. All in all, it was a laid-back and fun little evening in Silverlake.

Can life get any sweeter? Not only are more friends now able to go to Coachella but now my boy is flying down for it too. We didn’t think it would be possible, but we managed to find a great flight for the cheapest price we’ve seen yet. I’m so giddy.

Plus, according to Peter Jackson, the extended edition of The Two Towers will have 43 minutes of additional material! (Ignore the part where he mentions they’ve already cut 25 minutes from Return of the King or my mood will turn sour.)

Clay was simply wonderful last night on AI. Gave me much giddiness and smiles.

There’s a new episode of That 70′s Show on tonight. (Don’t think about spoilers and it’s all good.) Plus more AI.

Ash are going to do a headlining tour starting next month. Not only will I see them in Los Angeles, but there’s a good chance I’ll see them in Seattle now too.

I just bought the new Harry Potter DVD. And the new Roger Rabbit DVD.

I finally ordered new glasses. And computer glasses too. So my eyes will feel much better soon I hope. (I’ve been getting massive headaches lately and my eyes have been seriously bugging out.)

I saw The Datsuns last Saturday night. They blew all the hype out of the water by rocking so hard. Amazing. Incredible. Definitely one of the top shows of the year so far. I had a smile on my face almost the entire time. (Minus the drunk leech trying to molest me for half the night.)

I’m going see Moulin Rouge Friday night with all kinds of buddies to sing along at the top of my lungs.

I’m sure there’s more goodness… but I’m already rambling on far too long.

Even though my DSL at home is crap and not working cause my phone lines apparently suck ass and there’s all the woes going on in the world (if I stop my selfishness for a second and reflect), the sun is shining. The sky is blue. And I’m breathing. I’m safe. I’m happy. I’m looking forward to things. Today is a good day.