Here come the superlatives.

If you take hold of country music with your right hand, and in your left you grip punk rock, then you might call yourself Richmond Fontaine. They play country music with fuzzy-noted Telecaster chords, and they play punk rock with pedal steel. Yeah, that’s right. All at once. Of course they’re not the first to do it, and they won’t be the last. But they are, right now, the best. They do pretty and they do dirty and they do pretty dirty pretty damn good too. This is of course the kind of thing that made us all love Uncle Tupelo.

But wait just a minute. Richmond Fontaine are no Uncle Tupelo tribute act, so let’s all just shut up for a minute and listen to this music. And let’s listen to what that guy is singing. It’s Gram Parsons storytelling with a novelist’s eye for detail (now I’m cheating, because Willy Vlautin is a published novelist: http://www.willyvlautin.com/). Richmond Fontaine are a tribute act after all. They’re a tribute act to life, and their songs chart all the worst and best things about it, the beauty and frustration, and that’s what’s great about their music, and that’s what makes their music matter. Richmond Fontaine don’t play to you. They play for you. The music opens up and lets you in. It creates the shared experience in which the stage isn’t a pedestal that raises the performer above the audience, but a contact point between human beings, some of them playing guitars and drums (and pedal steel) and singing, and some of them listening and shouting out songs they want to hear and receiving apologies because their favorite song isn’t going to be played this time but it’s still the best show she’s seen this year anyway. It’s what rock ‘n’ roll does best, and right now Richmond Fontaine are doing the best live rock ‘n’ roll on planet earth. It’s not something I say lightly. They really are that good.

^ w/ All Smiles
* w/ J. Tillman

10/23: Pontiac, MI – The Pike Room^
10/24: Cleveland OH – The Grog Shop^
10/25: Pittsburgh PA – Garfield Artworks^
10/26: Buffalo NY – Mohawk Place^
10/27: Cambridge MA – T.T. the Bear’s^ w/ Soft Drugs
10/29: New York NY – Mercury Lounge^
10/30: Brooklyn NY – Southpaw^
10/31: Philadelphia PA – Johnny Brenda’s^

11/01: Washington DC – Black Cat^
11/03: Durham NC – Duke Coffeehouse^
11/04: Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle^
11/05: West Columbia SC – New Brookland Tavern^
11/06: St. Augustine FL – Cafe Eleven^
11/07: Orlando FL – The Social^
11/08: Tallahassee FL – The Moon w/ Spoon
11/09: Birmingham AL – BottleTree Cafe^
11/10: Atlanta GA – The Earl^
11/12: Nashville TN – Exit In^
11/13: Newport KY – Southgate House^

12/02: Spokane, WA – Empyrean*
12/03: Boise, ID – Neurolux*
12/04: Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue*
12/05: Denver, CO – Hi-Dive*
12/06: Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad*
12/07: Tuscon, AZ – Solar Culture*
12/08: San Diego, CA – Casbah*
12/10: Pomona, CA – Glass House*
12/11: Los Angeles, CA – Spaceland*
12/12: San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill*
12/13: Eugene, OR – Indigo District*
12/14: Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios*
12/15: Seattle, WA – Crocodile Cafe*

David Bazan Links:
www.davidbazan.com
www.myspace.com/davidbazan
www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F08C217D78378B17

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E-mail Comments: phill[at]thephiller[dot]com

1. Tin Armor – “The Misanthrope”

   A Better Place Than I Have Been
   One Percent Press
   
   Buy It: Amazon
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

2. OK Go – “Here Comes the Fire”

   adidas / MLS Represent – Rock the Pitch
   Adidas/MLS
   
   Links: MP3 | MySpace
    

3. Arab On Radar – “My Mind Is a Muffler”

   Yahweh or the Highway
   Skin Graft Records
   
   Buy It: Amazon | Insound | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

4. Chairs in the Arno – “Sequencing Anxiety”

   File Folder
   Mushpot Records
   
   Buy It: eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

5. Modern Cinema – “Left the World Behind”

   Modern Cinema
   Cassette Recordings
   
   Buy It: iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

6. Madee – “Mu”

   L’Antarctica
   BCore Disc
   
   Buy It: Amazon | eMusic | iTunes
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

7. Widower – “Certainly Tonight In The Bright Blue Moonlight”

   Quiet Life / Widower Split
   Safety Meeting Records
   
   Buy It: Safety Meeting Merch Store
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

8. Sleeping States – “Rivers”

   There the Open Spaces
   Misra
   
   Buy It: Amazon | Insound | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

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1. Grand Buffet – “Things That Go Hump in the Night”

   Undercover Angels
    
   
   Buy It: Out of Print
   Links: Interview | MySpace

2. Chow Nasty – “Ungawa”

   Super (Electrical) Recordings
   Omega Records
   
   Buy It: Amazon | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MySpace

3. The Gossip – “Standing in the Way of Control”

   Standing in the Way of Control
   Kill Rock Stars
   
   Buy It: Amazon | Insound | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

4. Architecture in Helsinki – “Heart It Races”

   Places Like This
   Polyvinyl Records
   
   Buy It: Amazon | Insound | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

5. Boy Eats Drum Machine – “Pleasure Theme Song”

   Pleasure
   Boy Eats Records
   
   Buy It: Amazon | iTunes | CD Baby
   Links: Review | MySpace | Blog

6. About – “Band Dynamics”

   Bongo
   Cock Rock Disco
   
   Buy It: Cock Rock Disco Shop
   Links: Review | MySpace

7. Cex – “The Marriage”

   Being Ridden
   Temporary Residence Limited
   
   Buy It: Amazon | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

8. Gravy Train!!!! – “Hella Nervous”

   Hello Doctor
   Kill Rock Stars
   
   Buy It: Amazon | iTunes | eMusic
   Links: MP3 | MySpace

So what you’ve got in the video above is a live performance by Bloc Party of a new track titled “Flux”. The video was shot in New York on October 3, 2007 and the track is apparently very newsworthy to the band as they sent out three separate e-mail related to the track in about a 28-hour span. Seriously! They want people to know about this track.