You might have noticed that at the L.A. Times, there are two music blogs, Soundboard (psst, that's the one you're reading now) and Extended Play. Well, those two blogs have decided to join forces and become one white-hot, radical blog by the name of Pop & Hiss. Expect the same coverage of local shows, new music, breaking news and awards buzz at our new home.

Blog mascot? It's got to be this pet serval in Texas, who didn't take too kindly to the camera in his face. We at Pop & Hiss promise to be a little more cuddly from time to time but don't tick us off by neglecting to bookmark our new home!

Bookmark this link.

--Margaret Wappler

Photo: Matt Slocum / Associated Press

Well, after almost six years in the tank, they've pulled it together (with ex-Shudder to Think drummer Adam Wade again on the skins) for a new EP, "Got Friends," and promise a full-length to come soon after. The title track of "Got Friends," out now on iTunes, is a bit cleaner and snappier than past throat-rippers, but it's sure to be catnip for the crowd that hangs out at the Woods on Sunday for '90s indie night.

-- August Brown

Photo courtesy the Militia Group

Can we expect country superstar Tim McGraw’s update on Brenda Lee’s biggest hit sometime soon? McGraw sounds like he’s ready for a chorus of “I’m Sorry” in the statement he issued today apologizing for the new collection of his hits that his record label is issuing for the holidays.
    
“I am saddened and disappointed that my label chose to put out another hits album instead of new music,” McGraw said in the statement. “I’ve only had one studio album since my last hits package. It has to be just as confusing to the fans as it is to me. I had no involvement in the creation or presentation of this record.”

He’s referring to the “Greatest Hits 3” collection that Curb Records released last week. His previous hits compilation, “Greatest Hits, Vol. 2” came out in March 2006. Record companies commonly put such collections out during the final quarter because they’re popular as holiday gift items. Case in point: Preliminary sales reports indicate this one may be headed for a debut in the Top 5 of the pop album chart.

Since the second hits CD, he released “Let It Go” last year, which included the hit singles “Last Dollar (Fly Away),” his duet with wife Faith Hill “I Need You,” and his “If You’re Reading This.” “I Need You,” however, does not appear on “Greatest Hits 3,” presumably because it would have needed the OK from Hill’s label, Warner Bros.

McGraw says he’s been at work on a new studio album that he wanted Curb to release this season rather than a third hits set.

“Sure I love the songs, and I don’t want to take anything away from all the creative people who were a part of making those records,” McGraw said. “But the whole concept is an embarrassment to me as an artist. In the spirit of an election year, I would simply say to my fans ‘I’m Tim McGraw and I don’t approve their message.’ ”

--Randy Lewis

Photo: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

British-born artist Antony Hegarty creates the kind of songs that paint, with just a few strokes, the profound but confusing nature of the world, to which being an androgynous, spiritually roaming seeker is seemingly the best response.

He and his band of soft-handed musicians released a self-titled album in 2000, but it wasn't until 2005, with the release of "I Am a Bird Now," that Antony stepped out of the New York art scene where he had gathered steam with his performance-art group Blacklips. A delicate yet resilient album with guest spots from Devendra Banhart and Hegarty heroes Lou Reed and Boy George, it won the Mercury Prize and expanded Antony's cultish audience of cabaret sages and faint-hearted beauties.

Since then, he's collaborated with several musicians and artists, including Björk, lending his quavering tenor to her song "Dull Flame of Desire," which appears on "Volta" from 2007. For his old friend Andy Butler in Hercules and Love Affair, he transformed his ghostly voice for the disco floor, which wasn't, it turned out, all that much of a stretch.

For the last couple of months, Antony has abandoned his beloved East Village for orchestral shows in Spain and Italy, entrusting the arrangements of his compositions with Nico Muhly, boy-wonder of the avant music scene. He's also released "Another World," an EP with another of Hegarty's idols on the cover, butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno. This precursor to "The Crying Light," the highly anticipated full-length due in January, only shares the title track with the longer work, but Antony sees the songs as united by themes of discovery.

On the occasion of his show tonight at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Antony spoke by phone a couple of days ago about working with an orchestra and dealing with the pressures of creating new work.

You’ll be working with a 20-piece orchestra Tuesday, and you’ve been performing with various orchestras around the world for the last couple of months. How’s that been going?

It’s been fun. It’s rare to get to to make music with such a large group of people. The orchestras have ranged from 20 to 50. The biggest increase in numbers occur in the string section, not wind or horns. It’s like you can never sweeten the pot enough.

How has it been working with Nico Muhly on the arrangements?

It was a very collaborative process and very satisfying. We would sit with the songs and toss around ideas. He has a very particular style, and he had to stretch to adjust to my heartbeat. Every musician plays to their own heartbeat in a way, whether metaphorically or in reality. The music needed to support me moving through the songs, so it had to have a certain empathy for my process. It was a challenge for Nico. He had to step into my process and try it on for size. I think he did that really well.

Why did you decide to come out with an EP?

I like EPs. I like it as a gesture, the smaller group of songs. I just wanted to introduce some of the themes of this new group of songs and to say hi to everyone.

The title song, "Another World," seems to have a strange sense of hope to it, despite the ominous tone.

I’ve heard people say different things. I never really consciously go after that or not go after that. My goal was to express how I was feeling in as plain a language as I could. It’s a pretty self-explanatory song in a lot of ways. It’s probably the most consciously written song I’ve ever made. It’s a very direct lament for the natural world.

What are some ideas and themes you’re speaking about on "Another World," the EP?

It’s about reassessing the environment, looking at it through different eyes, a less pedestrian set of eyes. It’s really investigating who am I, what am I made of and where do I come from, kind of feeling. And then, Is this my home? For me, it continues to surprise me that I’m born out of this world in a very physical way. I got born here, not from a machine, not from an egg that came somewhere else but from the material, from the dust and the elements and the water of this natural world. I’m the end of a line of life that started with life on Earth. We each are. For me, that’s something I don’t really sit with too often. In fact, I hadn’t really thought about it and then it began to occur to me. Sometimes I just want to look out at the landscape and see. Sometimes I see something that’s really magical, something to treasure or that’s sacred. I’m seeking to evolve in my relationship with the world around me, with my environment. I was raised in very alienated, late 20th-century Western style. We hardly realize, we think we come out of Pop Tart-like cases. We don’t really know where we come from. I was trying to work through those questions. I think the record reflects on that. It’s kind of a grown-up record for me in a way. It very much reflects my concerns now. It’s a very contemporary record for me. Usually, I write songs and then release five to 10 years later after I’ve written them. But this is where I’m at today, what I’m focusing on.

In that way, because it’s closer to what you’re dealing with right now, do you feel more vulnerable about the material?

It’s funny, because I think in some ways, people will find these songs more abstract and less personal than some of the really blatantly sentimental songs on ‘I Am a Bird Now,’ which I love too, but these are different kinds of investigations. For me, it does feel very personal, but in a very different way.

Did Björk approach you about singing guest vocals on "Dull Flame of Desire"?

We met a couple of times, and then for fun, we did some singing together in Iceland. She’s a really adventurous character; she loves to try something. We became friends, and then after my big 2005, 2006 tour, I was kind of wiped out and really depleted. And she took me under her wing and brought me away on holiday. She just said, "Come with me." We went to Jamaica. I rested there for a couple of weeks, there was a studio and it was there that we did some singing. She provided me with shelter at a point when I really needed it. "Dull Flame" was one of the things we worked on. It’s challenging to work with her, because she sets a different kind of bar, so I was just trying to keep up, or at least not fall too far behind her. but it was fine. When you stand next to her and she’s singing, you realize her level of commitment. Her commitment is so total, it really blew my mind. I’ve never seen her not give 100%, even in a run-through or whatever.

How did working on all those other projects affect your work on “The Crying Light” and “Another World”?

Björk has really been a big inspiration, just in watching her process and her freedom. She has tremendous freedom, so it was really inspiring. When I work with other artists, I think of them as my teachers. I’m always interested to see how other people are making their way through this, this big story. So for me, it’s another chance to learn something. I’ve never had a bad experience in that department. I quite like collaborating with people and doing projects with other artists. It’s really rewarding and fun. As a singer, I really like to support people. It’s something I got from going to school and singing in choirs. I like singing with other voices. It makes me feel really happy. I like that space were two voices blend together or when it’s a blend of voices. I’m just as happy to sing at the top of my lungs in a big group of people. Oftentimes, that’s an even happier experience to me. That’s just pleasure to me.

So then, was it tough to go from working with people to being alone and having to create your own work?

Yes, it was difficult to have to take responsibility for the outcome again. It’s not necessarily that fun. It can be rather arduous. It can be hard to keep it light. It’s hard to find the joy in it when you’re doing it by yourself. This last album was a very intense album to make. It took a long, long time and it was quite difficult to realize in a way, so I’m really glad it’s over so I can get on with my life again.

Did you feel a lot of pressure? Your last album got so much attention and won the Mercury Prize.

Yeah, that was a really big deal. I went through different phrases with it. At the end of the day, even if I do feel pressure, I have to turn in something that’s true to me because, the one thing I know is that if it’s not true to me, it’s no use to anyone. So I had to move through that and figure out what’s contemporary for me. I just had to set all that aside and be true to myself and hopefully, people will like it, but who knows? I can’t worry about that too much. I’ve already been given a really great gift. If I only get one swing at the ball, that’s more than most people get. The best thing for me to do is keep focusing on making the best work I can make.

--Margaret Wappler

Antony and the Johnsons performs at 8 p.m. tonight at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., Downtown. $30-$58. (323)850-2000.

Photo by Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times

With no beer being served, endless waits as cameras were adjusted, crowds coached on how to cheer just right and a chilly draft overtaking the half-filled arena as the afternoon became evening, this was the kind of live music experience that turns fun into an ordeal, if not cause for a riot. But the tank top hotties, frat boys, Latino teens and moms from Yucaipa who dutifully moved around the arena at the video director's behest never stepped over the line from enthusiasm to anger. And after the long haul, they all seemed delighted with what they got.

The commercial, helmed by Baker Smith (the guy behind the Gatorade-hawking viral "Ball Girl" campaign), will somehow link Nickelback's new inspirational strutfest  "Gotta Be Somebody" to the financial services offered by Citibank. Nobody at the Forum seemed troubled by the demand that they pummel air for a bank during these troubled economic times; even after half a dozen takes of singer Chad Kroeger lip-syncing, these good-natured extras still raised their hands every time he mouthed the lyric, "Nobody wants to be the last one there." Perhaps they were thinking about the poor sods on the floor of the stock exchange.

Or maybe they just enjoyed the pyro.

For a bank commercial, this production packed heat: Most takes featured flashpots, showers of sparks and much atmospheric smoke as Nickelback stomped along to its prerecorded hit. Kroeger and his guitar buddy Ryan Peake (does anybody else get a Todd Palin vibe from that dude?) bashed away at their instruments like the seasoned video stars they are, while bassist Mike Kroeger stood stoically stage left.

As the takes wore on and the crowd began tiring of Citibank reps raffling off IPod shuffles and signed guitars, Chad Kroeger jovially worked to keep things cool. He joked about taking everyone back to his hotel room to drink themselves into a stupor after expressing disgust at the lack of alcohol on-site. For all his boasts about extreme indulgence, however, Kroeger remained completely in control, an arena rock pro who knew how to pose for the ladies on the floor while never freaking out the dudes.

Kroeger has a real gift for stoking the fire in a room. His charisma explained a lot to this skeptical critic. Like virtually every music journalist, I've never been a Nickelback fan, but I was impressed with Kroeger's ability to make everyone in that long-suffering crowd feel like they were in on the same joke -- and then to turn the joke around and make it a source of superiority.

He broke up the tedium by coming down to press some fan flesh halfway through, and later led the band through one raunchy live number (the AC/DC tribute "Animals") and one chart-topping howl of uplift ("Someday") before returning to lip-syncing. By the time the mini-concert finally began -- more than five hours after the Forum's doors had opened -- Kroeger might have easily lost the thread. But he kept flashing that well-enameled smile and shaking his unruffled Prince Valiant mane.

After some more healing dialogue about how much everyone needed a beer, Kroeger announced that the real rock show would finally begin. The band played three songs (adding up to five throughout the day) and quickly departed, but during that brief moment, Kroeger cranked up the mood using every rock star's favorite tricks. He had fans throw the devil horns and relentlessly demanded more singing along, murmuring "You sound fantastic" in his best sexy Alberta drawl halfway through "Rockstar." The ladies pressing near the stage -- there were many, of all ages -- swooned as if a Santa Ana wind had just hit them from behind.

Kroeger even led a chant of "I say Nickel, you say Back!" as the band surged through its closer, "Figured You Out," which remains one of rock's most mean-spirited recent hits. Despite nasty lyrics such as "I love my hands around your neck," everyone near me was all smiles. Who knew? Nickelback is all about the love. And with a new album due next month, that love, like the "favorite damn disease" Kroeger sings about in that song, is only bound to keep spreading.

-- Ann Powers

Photo by PR Newswire

The set was short but spastic. Energetic and loud. Experimental guitar noodling punctuated by shrill cajoling, yelping and trilling from lead vocalist Molly Siegel. In short, everything you'd expect from exuberant Baltimore art-pop band Ponytail. Playing to a small but intimate crowd at the Phoenix Grille on the campus of UCI on Saturday, Siegel grimaced and smiled throughout the show. Her infectious dancing incited the audience to do the same. The first few rows became a flurry of tangled limbs —sometimes with Siegel in the mix.

Although the band is currently touring for its highly acclaimed second album “Ice Cream Spiritual,” its set also included a new number that was less raucous and more dance-driven with a grooving, overarching beat. From "Ice Cream Spiritual," they played “Beg Waves,” “Die Allman Bruder” and single/set-closer “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came from an Angel)” — complete with audience participation for the climactic "aahs" at the end of the song.

Like many of the DIY, all-ages Acrobatics Everyday shows, the lineup spanned different genres, with Orange County’s own noisy Sprawl Out opening, along with Vancouver’s Twin Crystals and San Francisco’s electronica 60-Watt Kid. Ponytail fit right into the grassroots feel of the show. At one point, drummer Jeremy Hyman said, to much applause, “Thanks for spending your Saturday night with us!” It is hard for a band to pack in so much liveliness without using any real coherent lyrics, but for the devoted crowd, one clear line of gratitude was enough.

--Vivian Lee

Photo credit: Vivian Lee

What was it like traveling with the New York Dolls on their first trip to L.A. in the early 1970s?

It was great. We stayed at the Hyatt. I can remember walking into the hotel and there must have been 40 or 50 groupies waiting for them. It was amazing. [L.A. groupie] Sable Starr rounded up the whole crew. We were here in the summertime.

Did Sable make a beeline for Johnny Thunders?

Oh yes! She liked him and he liked her.

What was the Dolls' attitude toward L.A. in general back then?

The Dolls loved show business. And Hollywood is show business. So they really enjoyed being here. We spent a lot of time seeing the sights, you know, in Hollywood -- the Chinese Theater, Fredrick’s of Hollywood, of course.

Did people stare at the Dolls back then when you were shooting them on Sunset Boulevard?

Even back then in Hollywood, the Dolls stood out. Nowadays, so many people have been inspired by the Dolls, and others doing the glam look, but at the time you didn’t see men dress up or try to be beautiful.  But the Dolls were never in any way transgender or anything. There were no women who dressed like the Dolls. Their idea was to be the most beautiful men. The girls knew right away that the Dolls were straight; it was the guys who were confused.

So which one of the Dolls was the most into being photographed on the L.A. trip and in general?

When you get a magical combination like the Dolls, it’s not like one really stood out. They were all good looking, they all liked having their picture taken, and they all knew how to do it. They enjoyed being looked at, and they were all attractive.

Where do the Dolls rank in terms of bands that you have photographed over the years?

Right at the top. They really look good, and they all liked having a good time during shoots.

Tell us about how other bands you’ve shot were influenced by the Dolls, and your shots and videos of the band.

I made a video that’s called “All Dolled Up” that features a lot of video I shot in the '70s. Today, everybody has a hi-def video in their back pocket, but back then, it was really rare to have a videotape machine or camera. I have over 40 hours of [raw] footage. You know, it’s so easy now to make a DVD copy on a computer, but back then it was very difficult to make copies. I had a lot of bands come over to my house to watch the Dolls footage. The Clash were really into the Dolls and came over to my place. I eventually did make copies [on VHS] and bands wanted to see them; Kiss and the Rollers wanted to see them. Kiss actually didn’t think they could be better looking than the Dolls, so they went in the opposite direction, because that hadn’t been done yet.

Speaking of people who were inspired by the Dolls, was it difficult to get Morrissey to commit to writing the afterword for your book?

Not at all. He loves the Dolls. They helped him become the free and open person that he is. That’s what the Dolls did for a lot of people. When you see how many different kinds of groups they inspired, you see how important a band they are. When you look at the New York Dolls back then, they obviously hadn’t learned how to play their instruments, but they were having fun.

Bob Gruen will attend the opening of his first solo show in Los Angeles on Saturday night at the Morrison Hotel Gallery Los Angeles on Sunset Boulevard.  The event is free and open to the public.

The New York Dolls play Club Nokia Dec. 20 (with X).

--Charlie Amter

Photo: The New York Dolls by Bob Gruen

"The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" ran No Age's performance of "Eraser" Thursday night, instead of the scheduled Oct. 27 running -- perhaps, just maybe, to capitalize on all the chatter? Seriously, before this No Age thing, when was the last time you thought about Craig Ferguson? Wait, so you've actually thought about Craig Ferguson before? All teasing aside, he decently diffuses the situation with a quintessentially late-night host monologue, replete with self-deprecation, "I'm so wacky" facial expressions and props to the band he's clearly never heard. As far as No Age goes, well, it wasn't their finest hour but Randy Randall stripping off his flannel at the last minute and storming off the stage should go down as one of 2008's more punk, if compromised, moments.

-- Margaret Wappler

Kids' music -- what is it? For better or worse (and I often can't decide), this generation of parents is redefining the term. No longer is it enough to sit in a circle with your babe on your lap and clap along as a bandana-wearing folkie sings "Little Boxes" -- and sometimes I think that's a shame. There's a lot to be said for going at the speed of children, not to mention sharing songs that comprise a children's music tradition going back a century or so.

But today's hipster parents like to rock. Kids like to rock, too, as long as the mix is not too loud, and the songs have choruses that hook their little ears, and the artists onstage engage with them. The best of the new bunch of kids' musicians -- like Farmer Jason, the Sippy Cups and that great old new folkie Dan Zanes -- play music that's complex enough for adults to enjoy, while still inviting to developing minds. (Writing about animals and holidays helps a lot -- the Sippy Cups, for example, have a song on their new EP called "The Day After Halloween.")

It's hard to strike this balance between sophistication and warmth; that's why so much neo-kids' music ends up working better for the parents than the tots. But Kidrockers, an interesting series born in New York and now coming to Echo Park, seems partly designed to give bands instruction on how to play to the junior seats.

Kidrockers features artists who usually play for grown-ups trying out the kiddie crowd. Founded by (who else?) a couple who craved live music they could enjoy along with their kids, the series has presented top-notch indie pop artists including Los Campesinos!, Ra Ra Riot and Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady.

Kidrockers makes its Los Angeles premiere this Sunday at the Echo, with sets by the Afternoons and the Deadly Syndrome. Seems like a a great bill to kick off the West Coast series -- both bands are pretty playful already, and they should do well with the pogoing pixies at their feet. Comedians Patton Oswalt and Seth Herzog host. The show is at 1 p.m.; tickets are $9 in advance and $11 at the door.

-- Ann Powers

Photo: Deadly Syndrome Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Our friends at Culture Monster turned us on to this cool event...

If Thelonious Monk had stuck around for a metaphorical third set, he'd be 91 this month. Monk walked onto the scene at 19, settling behind the piano with the house band at Harlem's Minton's Playhouse in the early '40s and started fiddling with jazz's molecular structure, altering it forever.

Monk's compositions (and his approach to them) --angular, intricate and shot through with humor --were marked by twists of whimsy and dissonance. Those distinct, abstract soundings became an intrinsic part of the jazz idiom making Monk -- along with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker -- one of bebop's key architects.   

Honoring his influence (and part of a countdown to Monk's 100th birthday), a free three-hour marathon of his music (and the music and musicians he influenced) -- "Monk at 91: Fazioli Piano Marathon" -- will take place in downtown L.A. on Friday, Oct. 17, from noon to 3 p.m. Participants scheduled: Geri Allen, Jean-Michel Pilc, Bill Cunliffe and Alan Broadbent. The event is a collaboration between Brookfield Properties and the city of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. 

That's "Monk at 91: Fazioli Piano Marathon," Oct. 17, at Ernst & Young Plaza at 7+Fig , 735 Figueroa St., upper plaza. For more info: (213) 955-7150.

-- Lynell George

Photo: Thelonious Monk at Minton's Playhouse, New York City, 1949. Credit: Herman Leonard