UK trio Seeland -- Timothy Felton, Billy Bainbridge and Neil McAuley -- are sonic pioneers associated with Birmingham's "Retro Futurist Electronic Scene." Formed when Tim and Billy left their respective bands (Broadcast and Plone), they started writing songs together that could express the sounds of their minds. Their second album How to Live (LOAF Recordingsz) is out October 26th. The band is giving away "Local Park" (click link for free download); a gorgeous summer stroll of a tune that is as uplifting as the sun and optimistic as summer itself, the audio equivalent of strawberries and cream.

Neil Young: After the Gold Rush (Reprise)

After the breakup of the Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young went in several different directions. In 1969 he released two LPs extremely contrasted character: his quirky, largely subdued, sometimes heavily arranged eponymous debut, and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, a louder and more generally rocking effort thanks to the introduction of his backing band Crazy Horse. Then he raised his profile as a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, whose Deja Vu topped the album chart. When he combined all three directions on the August 31, 1970 release After the Gold Rush, he achieved his commercial breakthrough as a solo artist.

"The longing that there should be something, but maybe the knowledge that there is not, and then the looking for the sensitivity and sensibility wherever -- in nature, or in words, or in writing, or in poetry. Or in music, of course."

Ute Lemper (born 4 July 1963), German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.

the pacifier - matthew shipp solo at the blue note set 1 & 2 - 8/23/10 (for O.P.)

monologue with self
am steel yama
in trin sic as what for (f)ever
zig zag rimrom pozzzilum rorrim
the where is something &
the where is something not
revolving as in barrel as in light of solidilos /oh
& the flame really does dance to the music
& the music truly does obey the flame
combined with piano’s intrigues are enough to pacify
like a young boy's thumb

Walter Gibbons Jungle Music: Mixed with Love: Essential & Unreleased Remixes 1976-1986 (Strut)

This is an album of disco remixes, which is automatically going to be a fun listen. But in this case, the remixer was not solely concerned with dancefloor utility: Gibbons's remixes are transformative in unexpected ways, and if I were dancing to them, frankly I'd get distracted by their quirks, which are even rhythmically unusual at times. He makes odd aspects stand out starkly, even strangely.

It's frequently argued that American comedies do not travel as well to the rest of the world as our dramatic exports do. Some major exceptions include features starring Charlie Chaplin and Jerry Lewis, plus TV fare with The Simpsons. Possibly death is a universal phenomenon, while what makes us laugh is a more localized affair.

And this is possibly considered a truism for films heading across the Atlantic from the east. Clearly, at least outside the few art houses and the Sundance Channel, foreign comedies seldom appear on our shores.

Have we become so accustomed to violence that our movies have to hyper-inflate it? I'm no prude, but implied violence is always scarier than watching a body explode in front of you after being hit by a bazooka.

Looking for a summer escape on Sunday afternoon, I slipped into a midday screening of Stallone's latest strutting machofest, The Expendables. Boasting a cast of former and current action heroes must have been a dream come true for Lions Gate (distributors). Moviegoers certainly get their money's worth seeing a ridiculously fit Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), Stone Cold Steve Austin, even former UFC mixed-martial-artist Randy Couture on the screen (plus limp cameos from Bruce Willis and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger). Throw in a corrupted CIA op played by Eric Roberts and what could be bad?

In 1934, Vernon Presley, age 18, recalled blacking out at the instant of his son’s conception; then, regaining consciousness, he had seen the night sky thronged with brilliant blue stars. Elvis Aron’s twin brother, Jesse Garon, was stillborn. The future King’s God-fearing mother, Gladys -- who herself almost died in the delivery -- believed he had inherited Jesse’s soul, and was "the One."

Years later, Gladys would suffer a miscarriage, making her all the more protective of her only surviving child.

"My mama never let me out of her sight," said Elvis.

Vernon told biographer, Peter Guralnick (Last Train to Memphis): "He never spent a night away from home until he was seventeen. The three of us formed our own private world."

Carrie Bradshaw and her gang would no doubt claim Liz Gilbert is the anti-Christ. Yes, these gals are clearly at odds.

The mindless Sex and the City brigade clearly thinks with its crotches while strutting about in designer pumps. While in her bestselling Eat Pray Love, Gilbert, with a lone party dress and, I'm told, great charm, goes on a one-year journey to find herself, learning to think with her heart and not her mind.

After a battering divorce and a difficult affair with a "hottie," the travel writer meanders through Italy, India, and Bali in search of a single word with which she can describe herself.

Riding a wave of international acclaim, The Drums are thrilled to share the highly infectious minimalist "Down By The Water" MP3 (click link for free download). A true departure from earlier singles this indie pop band slows down the tempo. Paring the production down to a throbbing bass line, light percussion, and a distant synthesizer, the most pronounced instrument is Jonny Pierce’s voice, which opens softly and elevates to a sharp croon. The band is currently in the midst of a massive worldwide tour and hit North American shores next month. The album is available now digitally in the US and will be in stores September 14th.

The head of California's thirty-ninth largest corporation was in full diabetic shock. His blood sugar was the second highest the doctors at Marin General had ever seen. His kidneys had shut down. He was running a 105-degree fever from a systemic infection. He was in a coma.

Outside the ICU, the corridor was packed with family, friends, managers, reporters. And the Hell's Angels. Only the patient's wife was permitted inside.

Matisse: Radical Invention 1913-1917
Museum of Modern Art
Through October 11

"Bathers by a River," in the collection of the Chicago Art Institute, has to be one of my top ten favorite paintings, though otherwise Matisse has always seemed a bit too lightweight for my taste. The Museum of Modern Art has devoted a large portion of the current Matisse: Radical Invention 1913-1917 exhibit to that newly cleaned and restored painting, so, with the prospect of seeing at least one great piece, I visited the show and unexpectedly got a fresh opportunity to rediscover a powerful painter.

Henri Matisse usually brings to mind bucolic scenes of rest and calm, but here we finally meet the artist who matched Cezanne and Picasso in his ambition to discover and convey a new, distilled way of seeing through painting; an artist driven to strip-mine nature in order to find an essential ore of pure form.

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