Buy the ticket, take the ride?

Buy the ticket, take the ride?

In February, tickets went on sale for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's May 21st concert at New Jersey's Izod Center. Due to a "glitch" in the system, many fans attempting to purchase tickets online were directed to Ticketmaster's ticket reselling company, TicketsNow, where the site listed ticket prices for hundreds of dollars above the $65-$95 ticket face value. In the aftermath, Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff apologized testified in front of Committees of Congress and apologized for the error. Ultimately, Ticketmaster had to create a wall between its site and TicketsNow, in addition to creating a ticket lottery for fans affected in the February sale.

The situation appeared resolved until one week ago when The Newark Star Ledger published an article titled, "Springsteen withheld best tickets from the public at NJ concert, records show." Using information obtained through the Open Public Records Act, the newspaper contends, "In all, 2,262 seats were held back from public sale" which "represents about 12 percent of the total [number of seats]." In addition, of the 1,000 closest seats, only 108, or 5% of those, were available for public sale. Citing this information, the Star Ledger, and other news outlets covering this story, placed the blame for the Ticketmaster pricing fiasco directly on Springsteen, claiming his withheld tickets created a price surge.

Because of the recent backlash, Springsteen's longtime manager, Jon Landau, has posted a 1,100-word letter on Brucepsringsteen.net, outlining Springsteen's version of events. In the letter, Landau admits, "Yes, we do hold significant numbers of tickets when we play New Jersey, New York, and Los Angeles, as does every arena headliner." He then qualified his statement by adding, "Unlike some Ticketmaster-managed artists, no tickets are held for high dollar resale on TicketsNow, or through any other means." Landau further renounced The Star Ledger's claim, stating, that of "The 2,000 to 3,500 tickets closest to the stage more than 95% of them go to the public."

Landau's post primarily seeks to shift the blame for the issues occurring in February back to Ticketmaster and away from The Boss, who has developed his ticket practices over a 30 year career. Landau closes his comments with the statement, "We do get upset when we see fans being taken advantage of. So, when that stuff stops happening we will stop complaining. And when the facts cease to be misrepresented, we will stop explaining."

Tasty Nuggets from Laurel Canyon to the Sunset Strip.

Get ready for Nuggets, the LA edition. The renowned music series, which compiles and codifies the world's finest psych-rock curios, will get an update with Where The Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968. The four-disc set, containing over 100 songs, will be released by Rhino Records on September 22.

Co-Producer Andrew Sandoval explains the set's concept in its liner notes: "...the Nuggets series is something of the alternative musical history of the 1960s. Not so much a survey of what happened, but more what could have happened had music charted on merit alone."

Here's the official word:

WHERE THE ACTION IS! compiles 101 tracks that mix many of the city's brightest stars (The Byrds, Love, The Doors, The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, The Mamas & The Papas, Lowell George, Iron Butterfly, The Monkees) with talented artists whose stellar songcraft sadly flew under the radar (The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, Modern Folk Quintet, The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, Spirit, The Everpresent Fullness, Kaleidoscope, The Standells, The Bobby Fuller Four).

WHERE THE ACTION IS! encompasses four discs arranged thematically to cover different aspects of the pop, rock, club, and Top 40 sounds of the era. The first covers some of the most notable bands that performed in the clubs of Hollywood's Sunset Strip. Disc 2 features a sampling of the musicians who began life in South L.A., East L.A., and such far-flung suburbs as Riverside and Bakersfield. Disc 3 delves into the artistry of L.A.'s producers, arrangers, and Wrecking Crew of studio players. The final disc takes us from the nascent seeds of folk rock to the first blooms of canyon rock, country rock, and full-blown psychedelia in the region. It also shows how rock pioneers such as Del Shannon and Rick Nelson took their own stabs at fitting in with "the kids."

Among the many highlights are an alternate take of The Beach Boys' "Heroes And Villains," Warren Zevon and producer Bones Howe performing "(You Used To) Ride So High" as The Motorcycle Abeline, "Take A Giant Step" by The Rising Sons, "Acid Head" by The Velvet Illusions, local scenester Kim Fowley's "Underground Lady," Jan & Dean's "Fan Tan," The Monkees' "Daily Nightly," Jesse Lee Kincaid's "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune," "Come To The Sunshine" by Van Dyke Parks, "Sister Marie" by Nilsson, and "Hippy Elevator Operator" by The W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band.

The set also offers a trio of previously unreleased tracks: a recently discovered demo version of "Sit Down I Think I Love You," recorded by Stephen Stills and Richie Furay shortly before they formed Buffalo Springfield; a demo of "Words" by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, one of the West Coast's most successful songwriting teams; and "Once Upon A Time," a collaboration between Tim Buckley and lyricist Larry Beckett.

WHERE THE ACTION IS! LOS ANGELES NUGGETS 1965-1968
Track Listing

Disc 1: On The Strip
1. "Riot On Sunset Strip" -- The Standells
2. "You Movin'" -- The Byrds
3. "You I'll Be Following" -- Love
4. "Dr. Stone" -- The Leaves
5. "Go And Say Goodbye" -- Buffalo Springfield
6. "Zig Zag Wanderer" -- Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
7. "Gentle As It May Seem" -- Iron Butterfly
8. "Candy Cane Madness" -- Lowell George & The Factory
9. "If You Want This Love" -- The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
10. "Baby My Heart" -- The Bobby Fuller Four
11. "All Night Long" -- The Palace Guard
12. "It's Gonna Rain" -- Sonny & Cher
13. "For My Own" -- The Guilloteens
14. "Take A Giant Step" -- The Rising Sons
15. "One Too Many Mornings" -- The Association
16. "Time Waits For No One" -- The Knack
17. "Take It As It Comes" -- The Doors
18. "Pulsating Dream" -- Kaleidoscope
19. "Tripmaker" -- The Seeds
20. "The People In Me" -- The Music Machine
21. "Saturday's Son" -- The Sons Of Adam
22. "Eventually" -- The Peanut Butter Conspiracy
23. "Swim" -- Penny Arkade
24. "The Third Eye" -- The Joint Effort
25. "Girl In Your Eye" -- Spirit

Disc 2: Beyond The City
1. "Jump, Jive & Harmonize" -- Thee Midniters
2. "Back Up" -- The Light
3. "To Die Alone" -- The Bush
4. "Get On This Plane" -- The Premiers
5. "Little Girl, Little Boy" -- The Odyssey
6. "Hideaway" -- The Electric Prunes
7. "Listen, Listen!" -- The Merry-Go-Round
8. "She Done Moved" -- The Spats
9. "Grim Reaper Of Love" -- The Turtles
10. "See If I Care" -- Ken & The Fourth Dimension
11. "He's Not There Anymore" -- The Chymes
12. "Back Seat '38 Dodge" -- Opus 1
13. "Eternal Prison" -- The Humane Society
14. "Revenge" -- The Others
15. "Come Alive" -- Things To Come
16. "Acid Head" -- The Velvet Illusions
17. "Guaranteed Love" -- Limey & The Yanks
18. "Love's The Thing" -- The Romancers (aka The Smoke Rings)
19. "Underground Lady" -- Kim Fowley
20. "Pretty Little Thing" -- The Deepest Blue
21. "You're Wishin' I Was Someone Else" -- The Whatt Four
22. "Hippy Elevator Operator" -- The W.C. Fields Memorial Electric String Band
23. "That's For Sure" -- The Mustangs
24. "Tomorrow's Girl" -- Fapardokly (Merrell & The Exiles)
25. "Everything's There" -- The Hysterics
26. "Our Time Is Running Out" -- The Yellow Payges

Disc 3: The Studio Scene
1. "Action, Action, Action" -- Keith Allison
2. "The Rebel Kind" -- Dino, Desi & Billy
3. "High On Love" -- The Knickerbockers
4. "Fan Tan" -- Jan & Dean
5. "Halloween Mary" -- P.F. Sloan
6. "Somebody Groovy" -- The Mamas & The Papas
7. "Daydreaming" -- Thorinshield
8. "Just Can't Wait" -- The Full Treatment
9. "Yellow Balloon" -- The Yellow Balloon
10. "The Times To Come" -- London Phogg
11. "No More Running Around" -- The Lamp Of Childhood
12. "Little Girl Lost-And-Found" -- The Garden Club
13. "Mothers And Fathers" -- The Moon
14. "My Girlfriend Is A Witch" -- October Country
15. "Montage Mirror" -- Roger Nichols Trio
16. "Flower Eyes" -- Pasternak Progress
17. "Come Down" -- The Common Cold
18. "Jill" -- Gary Lewis & The Playboys
19. "Daily Nightly" -- The Monkees
20. "Night Time Girl" -- Modern Folk Quintet
21. "Don't Say No" -- The Oracle
22. "Tin Angel (Will You Ever Come Down)" -- Hearts And Flowers
23. "Rainbow Woman" -- Lee Hazlewood
24. "Poor Old Organ Grinder" -- Pleasure featuring Billy Elder
25. "Baby, Please Don't Go" -- The Ballroom

Disc 4: New Directions
1. "Sit Down I Think I Love You" -- Stephen Stills & Richie Furay*
2. "Splendor In The Grass" -- Jackie DeShannon with The Byrds
3. "November Night" -- Peter Fonda
4. "Roses And Rainbows" -- Danny Hutton
5. "Lemon Chimes" -- The Dillards
6. "Here's Today" -- The Rose Garden
7. "I Love How You Love Me" -- Nino Tempo & April Stevens
8. "Words" (Demo) -- Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart*
9. "(You Used To) Ride So High" -- The Motorcycle Abeline (Warren Zevon & Bones Howe)
10. "Los Angeles" -- Gene Clark
11. "Once Upon A Time" -- Tim Buckley*
12. "Darlin' You Can Count On Me" -- The Everpresent Fullness
13. "I'll Search The Sky" -- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
14. "Come To The Sunshine" -- Van Dyke Parks
15. "Heroes And Villains" (Alternate Take) -- The Beach Boys
16. "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune" -- Jesse Lee Kincaid
17. "Sister Marie" -- Nilsson
18. "Last Night I Had A Dream" (Single Version) -- Randy Newman
19. "Life Is A Dream" -- Noel Harrison
20. "Marshmallow Skies" -- Rick Nelson
21. "I Think I Love You" -- Del Shannon
22. "Change Is Now" -- The Byrds
23. "The Truth Is Not Real" (Single Version) -- Sagittarius
24. "You Set The Scene" -- Love
25. "Inner-Manipulations" -- Barry McGuire

*Previously unreleased

On September 8, pioneering Brazilian psych-rock band Os Mutantes will release their first album in 35 years, Haih, on Anti- Records. The band split up in 1978, but in 2006 reunited for a critically-acclaimed reunion tour.

From the press release:

Os Mutantes were formed in Sao Paolo Brazil in 1966 by Sergio Dias and his brother Arnaldo, who blended their love of English rock n roll,culled from shortwave radio broadcasts, with American psychedelic in the spirit of Jimi Hendrix and traditional Brazilian music to create an entirely new sound to match an equally turbulent time in Brazilian history. While Os Mutantes were leading a growing youth mobilization as part of the Tropicalia movement alongside the likes of Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, their country was reeling in the midst of a military coup and ensuing artistic crackdown which eventually left Gil and Veloso imprisoned and exiled.

In the short years they were active, Os Mutantes crafted a distinctive, riotous and modern sound, experimenting with homemade instruments studio effects, traditional forms of Brazilian music, field recordings, unorthodox song structures and time signatures -- and combining those with international influences in the form of pop music being exported out of England and the US in the late 1960s.

Coupled with an overt political message embracing libertarian expression and artistic freedom, the few records Os Mutantes recorded have become enduringly influential. In the mid 1990s, 20 years after
their last recording, Kurt Cobain famously issued a plea, begging for a reunited Os Mutantes to open for Nirvana. Since then, the band's importance has been cited by current alternative superstars ranging from the Flaming Lips and of Montreal to Devendra Banhart to Beck, who wrote "for years it [Os Mutantes] was pretty much the only thing I listened to."

Now Os Mutantes have found a home with other likeminded provocateurs such as Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Mavis Staples and Billy Bragg on the Los Angeles independent label ANTI- Records. 2006 saw a reunion of sorts, with the band playing a handful of shows in London, New York, the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, San Francisco and supporting the Flaming Lips at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, but it is the release of Haih in September that will mark the band's first recorded material since 1974 and their very first album to receive a worldwide release. Conceived by Sergio Dias with collaborations with other Brazilian legends Tom Ze (lyrics) and Jorge Ben (who wrote the song "Minha Menina"), Haih is a vibrant and timely return from one of world music's most important bands.

"Living the conception and birth of this album, as an individual, was the most intense experience, for it was as if time has ceased to exist, and I was bouncing from life to life, decades through decades, revisiting myself as a 16 year old boy playing guitar and feeling so free and, as any teenager, indestructible." Sergio Dias, May 2009

If you like Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and you like music and "pungent hippies," you must watch the videos of Triumph (voiced by writer/comedian Robert Smigel) at this year's Bonnaroo Festival, where the insensitive pooch cracks wise with the Beastie Boys, TV on the Radio, and Bruce Springsteen.

Watch the two segments that aired on the Tonight Show below. And here's a link to Stereogum's post, where they've collected video of Triumph hanging out with Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The first recording by Beck's Record Club is here.

As we previously reported, Beck has launched the Record Club, a changing roster of artists who will help him cover his favorite albums of yesteryear on Beck.com. Their stated intention is to record the album in a single day, without taking the time to arrange or rehearse. Tracks from the album will be released each week. A video of the Record Club recording their first song, "Sunday Morning," from the Velvet's 1967 debut album, Velvet Underground and Nico, can now be found on Beck.com.

If it all sounds as good as this, we can't wait to hear the full album.

That looks to be Beck's Brother-in-Law, actor Giovanni Ribisi, holding it down on the xylophone. Icelandic artist Thorunn Magnusdottir sings Nico's harmony part.

Here's Beck's report, which he posted on his website:

"For this first edition, after lengthy deliberation and coming close to covering Digital Underground's Sex Packets, all present voted in favor of the 'other' Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico. Participants included this time around are Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian Lebarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and from Iceland, special guest Thorunn Magnusdottir, and myself. Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, and to all of you for indulging in this experiment. More soon."

Seems like Beck has gone in this direction before. Check out the video below.