If you don’t remember the whole Superman fiasco with Sufjan Stevens newest release Illinois, you’re probably not a fan of Sufjan’s and you probably don’t frequent too many indie music blogs. To summarize for those of you that don’t know, Sufjan’s legal reps advised him to withhold selling the copies featuring the Superman image on the cover of the album. The problem was that they were already shipped, and some record stores went ahead and sold them in defiance of a temporary order not to. Anyway, my local music store had a bunch, and I picked up a couple for my friends and I.

The whole point of this is to offer a copy of the Sufjan Stevens Illinois album w/Superman cover to you, the readers of Muzzle of Bees. There are no rules other than you cannot currently own a copy with the Superman image on the cover, and you don’t have intentions of selling it on eBay. So, in effect you can leave a comment below telling me why you are deserving of the album, and if you are chosen you will receive what is to be many people’s album of the year at no charge to you! Plus it’s a nice little collector’s album. In the event that your reason is personal, your shy, or for any other reason, you may also e-mail your entry to me using the contact e-mail address located to the right. The winner will be announced August 5th.

Last night I went to the University of Wisconsin’s Union Terrace and saw the Benevento Russo Duo. It’s a organ and drum group that is probably best classified as a jazz jam band. They weren’t as amazing as I was hoping, but they did do a pretty awesome cover of Radiohead’s “Myxomatosis.” They followed that up with what they said was an Elliot Smith cover, but I couldn’t distinguish what song it was.

There is plenty of stuff to read on the old internet. One of the most interesting Sufjan Stevens interviews I’ve seen lately is from Nerve. Thanks to Stereogum for pointing me to that. I wasn’t able to hit Intonation or Lollapolooza, but from what I heard from friends that were at Intonation, they said that the Les Savy Fav was quite a sight to be seen. Stylus magazine has an interview with the members of Les Savy Fav, and here is the link for ya.

I’ve been listening to Wilderness a lot recently. Their new self titled album is pretty decent. Everyone complains about their lyircs. Ok, so they’re not Bob Dylan. You can click here and here to listen to streams of two of their tracks. An interesting side note, when I was trying to find the Wilderness website, this was the first one that Google brought me to. Some people may be down with that too, but I doubt it.

Lucero is another band that I’ve been listening to non-stop. I went about their records backwards from the most recent Nobody’s Darlings (which is fantastic and just released this year), to their self-titled debut. Anyway, I couldn’t find any studio MP3’s so, I found a live concert of theirs from the Cat’s Cradle (North Carolina) on September 29, 2004. I’ve personally witnessed these guys in concert and they rock pretty hard. Nobody rocks a Whiskey bottle harder than these boys either. Make sure to check them out, because they are always on the road. Click here for 5 streaming tracks from Nobody’s Darlings.

Then get a taste of them live from the MP3’s below.

Across The River
Tears Don’t Matter Much
And We Fell
That Much Further West
Drink Till We’re Gone
Hate and Jealousy
Hold Me Close
Kiss The Bottle
Raising Hell
Bikeriders
The War

Finally some new concert announcements for Madison:

9/25 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - The Annex, Madison
10/21 - The New Pornographers - Barrymore, Madison

Pitchfork has all the details.

Tracklist:

01 Drive My Car - The Donnas
02 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Fiery Furnaces
03 You Won’t See Me - Dar Williams
04 Nowhere Man - Low
05 Think for Yourself - Yonder Mountain String Band
06 The Word - Mindy Smith
07 Michelle - Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
08 What Goes On - Sufjan Stevens
09 Girl - Rhett Miller
10 I’m Looking Through You - Ted Leo
11 In My Life - Ben Lee
12 Wait - Ben Kweller
13 If I Needed Someone - Nellie McKay
14 Run for Your Life - Cowboy Junkies

Razor & Tie

Here’s some songs to get you through the day, and guide you through the weekend:

Sufjan tracks had to go bye bye
Buena Vista Social Club - Dos Gardenias
Troubled Hubble - Ear Nose and Throat
If you don’t own Making Beds In A Burning House, you are missing out on one of the best 2005 releases. Check out Troubled Hubble.
Troubled Hubble - Traffic
Troubled Hubble - Airplanes
Iron and Wine - Naked As We Came
Mike Doughty - Looking At the World Through The Bottom of a Well
Mike Doughty - Your Misfortune
Former Soul Coughing frontman has a really fun new record, go here to check him out, and read his blog
Ray LaMontagne - Burn In My Skin (demo)
Ray LaMontagne - You Ain’t Nothing Like You Used To Be -
This is my favorite Ray song, I hope he releases it someday.
Magnolia Electric Co - The Dark Don’t Hide It
Magnolia Electric Co - Leave The City

If Old School didn’t make up your mind that Vince Vaughn is one of the funniest men in America, Wedding Crashers should seal the deal for you. I’m still laughing the next day at all the stuff the guy said.

There is some really beautiful, sad, and interesting stuff all the in form of postcards right here.

Tegan and Sara, graced Madison with another beautiful performace last night at the Annex. Drawing from their most recent release, So Jealous, the group from Canada left the crowd wanting just one more song, but that’s nothing knew for Tegan and Sara. I was lucky enough to have an interview with Tegan Quinn, one half of the genius that is Tegan and Sara, and ask her a few questions about life on the road, music, and a couple other things.

Q. How’s the tour going so far? You’ve played in Madison before, anything about the city or specific performance that stands out in your memory?

A. It is a great city with a great indie scene. We always see indie movies and you guys have so many book stores. It’s beautiful.

Q. Next month you’ll be heading to Australia, which has to be extremely exciting. How long will you be touring there, and is there anything outside of playing music you plan on doing?

A. We are going for 3 weeks. We won’t have time to do much but travel and play. We are going to try and see the beach, tan a bit and meet some koalas at the sanctuary in Brisbane.

Q. On your most recent record, John and David from the New Pornographers filled out your band. Will they be joining you on tour?

A. NO, they have other projects. Our band consists of a constant drummer and bass player and Matt Sharp filled out the songs with keys. We play mostly all the guitars. John and Dave mostly just engineered and produced this record.

Q. Are you able to write while touring or is that something you like to do away from the road?

A. We try our best. Often it is impossible to find the time. We try though we do.

Q. You spend a decent amount of time touring. Are there certain albums that are “road essential” What is currently playing in Tegan and Sara’s CD players?

A. Sufjan Stevens, Antony and the Johnsons, Joanna Newsom, and The Decemberists.

Q. What are your thoughts on music blogs and the power of the internet in terms of helping your music reach more people?

A. I think it is great. I think people just need to listen for themselves though. Some of these sites pick up some random obscure crap and make it seem like we are buying gold….I just think people need to listen to what is not being pushed. Just because it is not being played on the radio does not mean it is necessarily great.

Q. Are there any songs that you recorded for So Jealous that didn’t make it on the record? That seems to be a difficult situation. Usually there are those few songs that a few people like, and some don’t. What happens to songs like those? Do they get taken on the road and played or saved for the future?

A. There were a few songs we recorded that didn’t make it. These get released on singles or as b-sides on line. Some songs that did not make it past demo form come back later on in our musical lives or we mess with live but mostly they just go into the vaults.

The following are MP3’s from the Tegan and Sara website. Do yourself a favor and go out and grab So Jealous. You won’t be dissapointed.

I know I know I know
Speak Slow

And from their 2002 release, If it was you:

Monday Monday Monday
I Hear Noises

Then you can re-live the excitement that touched down in Chicago last weekend by visiting Gorilla vs. Bear and My Old Kentucky Blog for all of your Lollapalooza needs.

Bonnaroo Organizers Head West With Vegoose

By Ray Waddell, Nashville

After months of speculation, the producers of the Bonnaroo festival have confirmed they will stage a mega-event in Las Vegas around Halloween. Produced by A.C. Entertainment and Superfly Presents, Vegoose is set for Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium Oct. 29-30. Other late-night music events are planned for the area in as many as five different venues from Oct. 28 until Halloween night.

Among those believed to be performing at the stadium shows are Dave Matthews, the Black Crowes and Jack Johnson. Superfly president Jonathan Mayers would not confirm any artists, but did tell Billboard.com, “We’re very excited about the lineup we’re putting together. The programming will be somewhat similar to Bonnaroo in that it will be an eclectic mix of artists.”

Bonnaroo, held in Manchester, Tenn., each June, is the top-grossing music festival in the world, ringing up $13.3 million from 76,049 people this year, according to Billboard Boxscore. While Bonnaroo is held on 700 rural Tennessee acres, Mayers believes the vibe will translate to Vegas.

“We’re in the special event business,” Mayers adds. “Bonnaroo has been very successful, and we want to create another special event. We think Vegas and Halloween are a great combination, and Vegoose will be an exciting destination.”

Tickets will go on sale in early August, and Mayers says producers will be cognizant of travel expenses involved in getting to Vegas when finalizing ticket prices. “We want to make Vegoose a good value for the ticket price, just like Bonnaroo,” he says. Additional details will be announced on Vegoose.com.
(more…)

Sun 10/30/05 Milwaukee, WI The Rave / Eagles Club
Tue 11/01/05 Madison, WI Barrymore Theatre

thanks to More Cowbell for the info!