Richman, taking the "dour" out of troubadour.

We highlighted the Saturday Dec. 1 appearance by the original Modern Lover Jonathan Richman at {open} in Long Beach in our Calendar this week, but somehow forgot to include that the charming 56-year-old troubadour (and one of punk's progenitors) will also be playing Detroit Bar Sunday Dec. 2. Richman is still a delightful entertainer, but he doesn't like to bring the noise anymore. My guess is your shouts for “Roadrunner” will go unheeded, though you might have better luck requesting “Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste.”

A truly fearsome device.

OC Weekly freelancer Michael Coyle sent me this article ("How To Destroy A Profitable Industry In Just A Few Easy Steps"), which originally appeared on huffingtonpost.com and is winging its way 'round the blogosphere. It's a pathetic saga of how some major-label execs repeatedly made foolhardy decisions when dealing with emerging digital technologies.

You know the drill by now, but it never gets old reading about it. The short-sightedness, incompetence and sheer idiocy outlined in this piece by Howie Klein (the former Reprise Records prez who was one of the few industry bigwigs to understand the implications of the internet) are staggering. Crap really does rise to the top...

Read it and weep (or gloat, especially if you're into experiencing schadenfreude).

Ex-Nirvana bassist/current political activist Krist Novoselic hosts an exclusive live Flipper track in his column this week on our sister paper Seattle Weekly's blog. The song's recorded by Jack Endino, the studio wiz who produced Bleach about 18 years ago. Novoselic currently plays bass in Flipper, who reunited in 2005.

Flipper were my favorite American punk band because they wrote the funniest lyrics and they wittily bucked the conformist punk trend of loud/fast/stoopid rules (actually, slow/loud/smart rules; make a note of it). Check out Krist's column and the track (“Way of the World”) here.

And here's a clip of a much younger Flipper doing "In Life My Friends" in 1982.

How mind-blowingly off the hook is Snoop Dogg?

Bangin' you say? Supa dupa fly? Funktastically shalackin' even?

No no, my friends. He's even more groovy than that.

His new video for Sensual Seduction says it all:

Cavil at Rest: Love congas all. Photo: Adrienne

Los Feliz quintet Airborne Toxic Event play the kind of peppy, downcast rock I always seem to hear during my infrequent visits to Urban Outfitters. This sort of Strokes/Arctic Monkeys/Bloc Party steez goes in one ear and out the other without leaving much of an impact on your correspondent. I wish ATE well, but they're definitely not my bag, although the fine young things in the surprisingly large Monday night crowd, uh, ate it up. Within a year, ATE will be extremely popular and, I predict, laughing in my face over this dismissal. Just you watch...

Cavil at Rest, on the contrary, hark back to a time (early '70s) when pop groups would casually bust intricate progressive-rock moves, when melodies bore sophisticated arrangements and three-part vocal harmonies, when songs often contained surprising dynamics and tricky key changes. This Mission Viejo five-piece exhibit an effusive elegance, a potent sense of fun, an infectious camaraderie and an easy chemistry. Their positive energy somehow doesn't cloy. When Ryan Hahn (vocals/guitar/keys) gushes between songs, “We're so happy to be doing this,” he comes off as genuinely grateful rather than patronizing.

Cavil at Rest channel their instrumental fluency into catchy songs, not indulgent displays of technical proficiency. That and the fact that they're good-looking dudes with charming personalities (what a high percentage of hotties in the audience, damn) betoken a promising future for Cavil at Rest, who'll be spending much of December working on their debut album as they ponder a studio and producer for it.

DJ Robert Acosta almost spoiled the show for me, though, when he said, “That guy's voice [Taylor Rice's] reminds me of Christopher Cross. I mean that in a good way.” But seriously, check out Cavil at Rest next time they play out, dubious yacht-rock comparisons notwithstanding.

On Saturday November 24, Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert was found dead inside the band's tour bus just hours before a show in Washington D.C.

The cause of death has yet to be determined.

This message was posted on the band's website:

“Today is probably the worst day ever. Its with our deepest regrets that we have to write this. Casey Calvert passed away in his sleep last night. We found out this afternoon before sound-check. We’ve spent the entire day trying to come to grips with this and figure out as much as possible. At this time we’re not sure what exactly happened. Just last night he was joking around with everyone before he went to bed. We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal. Please, out of respect to Casey and his family, don’t contribute or succumb to any gossip you may hear. We don’t want his memory to be tainted in the least. Casey was our best friend. He was quirky and awesome and there will truly be no others like him! His loss is unexplainable. As soon as we know more we will let you know.

Sincerely,

Hawthorne Heights

Eron, JT, Micah and Matt”

Sweet Jesus Juice!

The scandal-factory that is the Jackson family are rumored to be working on a reunion tour set for 2008. Basically, it will be the Jackson 5 plus Janet.

And Michael? Promoter Leonard Rowe says yes...maybe.

Rowe (who promoted Jackson’s Off The Wall tour in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s) stated:

“We wanted to go this year, but [Michael] said it would take a lot of preparation. He didn’t say no...His brothers are ready. Janet is ready. But the motor of that car that makes the car run isn’t just yet.”

Come on, Michael! You need the cash!

Saturn: Currently shopping demos to several labels.

With a sound that's been honed over billions of years, the planet Saturn has developed quite a beguiling musical signature. It's doubtful that many Earthlings will hum along to it, but I think it may be my favorite strain of music of the spheres. With enough promotional savvy, Saturn could be huge.

Tip: Chris Alfaro

Hellcat just got estrogenetically enhanced.

Long Beach vicious vixens Civet have inked a deal with LA-based Hellcat Records, which is run by Rancid front man Tim Armstrong. (Read our feature on Civet here.)

Press release after the jump; “Pay Up” (live) video before it.

Don't have anywhere to go on Thanksgiving? Or maybe your family eats at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and you need something to do at night since everyone usually passes out around nine. Either way, I recommend you head over to The Prospector in Long Beach for a special Thanksgiving night show with Crystal Antlers and DJ Frederick Phases.

Crystal Antlers just finished recording a new ep up in San Francisco last weekend with Ikey Owens (Mars Volta, Look Daggers, and sometimes second keyboardist in Crystal Antlers) that they plan on releasing on the 10" vinyl and 0's and 1's formats sometime next year.

Read Dave's review of their show at The Prospector from back in September.