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Big Takeover #64, Decemberists cover, out on the stands! / Sample Quotes
23 June 2009Once again the big news is that Big Takeover #64 Spring 2009 issue with The Decemberists on the cover (and concluding part twos of our awesome Death Cab for Cutie, Sloan, and Devo interviews) is now on the stands. / “That [‘60s British folk] generation was really into discovering the centuries-old songs that had to deal with really dark and violent themes of romantic and sentimental love. Particularly Anne Briggs, Maddy Pryor, June Tabor—an essay could be written about feminism and the British folk revival, and how a lot of the women artists were arranging songs where rape figured pretty prominently—and I don’t know why that is. I think it was an interesting way of highlighting how different the relations between the sexes were in the 16th century, the 17th century, and how violent the culture that people were living in was.”—COLIN MELOY
Big Takeover #64 About To Ship: Pre-order/ Subscribe/ Renew/ Subscribers: Update Your Address ASAP (if changed)! / Great Gifts!
16 May 2009Once again the big news is that Big Takeover #64 Spring 2009 issue with The Decemberists on the cover (and concluding part twos of our awesome Death Cab for Cutie, Sloan, and Devo interviews) was completed in San Francisco in April! (A full description of its contents is just below!) It will begin shipping this week likely, so you should see it quite soon! And remember, we only come out twice a year, every Spring and Fall, so you don’t want to miss one of our jam-packed 200-page issues! Below is a quick description of its contents.
R.I.P. Tommy Tee, New Model Army manager and friend of Big Takeover / Issue 63 on the stands
27 December 2008Shocking news of the heart attack death on December 23 of longtime New Model Army manager Tommy Tee, who did more for one individual band than anyone I’ve ever seen, and did it for years and years and years. (He ran their business from top to bottom and went on the road with them as a tour manager and overall handler.) / Here’s a reminder that the new Big Takeover issue 63 is out. And here is again the full info, with some spicy sample quotes from its pages:
Update on our Springhouse tour this week with Magnetic Morning (extra date added! Atlanta with For Against!), and our new third LP is released TODAY!!!: Repeat! "From Now to OK" is out at last, after 10 Years' work!!! / Big Takeover on Breakthruradio.com
12 October 2008Hey again, Big Takeover readers! Our new Fall issue #63 is coming soon, and details of that are inside. (Subscribers, don’t forget to update your address if you’ve moved!) But first, here’s the latest update on the SPRINGHOUSE East Coast tour we are doing supporting MAGNETIC MORNING starting this Thursday in Chapel Hill, NC, with more info on it, including the new ATLANTA date with FOR AGAINST (Yes!!!!!!!!)!: Click here for full info!
On Moving a Musical Life to a New Home [Part II]
22 June 2006This jazz that is life is set to a tune you can’t get out of your head and it feels like your most understanding companion. You’ll carry around your wonder of it from place to place like you’ve got the museum of truly modern and moving art in your clutches, and how wonderful that, unlike MOMA, this same stuff you schlep was available to your friends and cronies for them to own too and revel, revel, revel in the current that makes you feel like your hair is standing up on end, Linus-like.
On Moving a Musical Life to a New Home [Part I]
14 June 2006I am betting that a ton of our readers are similarly peculiar in this aspect of moving. We have compiled a truly unusual amount of musical detritus as the years have passed. I mean, let’s just think a second about that word “cassettes.” I mean, how many cassettes do I play in a year these days? A few dozen? Well, it took some 14 large boxes to get all of the ones I have ready for their maiden voyage to Brooklyn.
Notes from a Semi-Annual Advertising Salesman
24 March 2006One of the things I want to do in this space is to occasionally give you an inside view of how magazines are made. Today, I will give a glimpse of why our print mag comes out only twice a year (1982 was the last time we came out more often), since it’s a question I am frequently asked by readers.
25th Anniversary Sale, and in Praise of Shirley Sexton, Our Former Webmistress
23 February 2006We’ve begun a “25th Anniversary” sale on our Big Takeover Secure Online Store. Buy three back issues get one free. (Or buy four and get a CD or t-shirt for free.) Limited time offer, get it today! But both the anniversary and the sale remind that neither that milestone nor its attendant celebration would have been possible were it not for one person in particular: SHIRLEY SEXTON, our webmistress emeritus.
To Our Readers: We Would Like to Get to Know You!
29 January 2006The Big Takeover has never been a business in the traditional sense. As such, some measures integral to most magazines were never taken at BT. One of those is the compiling of demographics, the holy grail of advertisers. In a sense, no poll or survey was necessary. Surveying our readers was beside the point: We know who our readers are and why they read BT—they are like us, passionate (often to the point of obsession!) about music.
In Praise of David Stein, Big Takeover Co-founder
26 December 2005Ah, the mysterious DAVID STEIN, our co-founder often mentioned in our magazine, seemingly for one fleeting act 25 years ago (he only lasted that first issue)! Yet everyone should have a David Stein in his or her life growing up. Let me explain.
Jack Rabid’s Top 10
Week of February 7
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The Joy Formidable – A Balloon Called Moaning (Pure Groove U.K.)
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The Joy Formidable – First You Have to Get Mad limited edition live LP (Pure Groove U.K.)
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Rogue Wave – Permalight (Brushfire)
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Sloan – Hit & Run digital EP (Murder)
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Catherine Wheel – Ferment (Cherry Red U.K.)
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Lou Barlow – Goodnight Unknown (Merge)
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Mission of Burma – The Sound The Speed The Light (Matador)
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Visqueen – Message to Garcia (Local 638)
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For Against – Never Been (Words on Music)
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The Dimes – The King Can Drink the Harbour Dry (Pet Marmoset)