Ear on TV: Week of 04.05.10: Pubic Image Ltd

Professional provocateur John Lydon has reunited his post-Sex Pistols outfit Public Image Ltd. kicking off a tour of North America next week, the first one in 18 years. Lydon recently told Billboard that the band has new material ready to record. "Yeah, I've got piles," says the frontman, also saying the tour is a way to raise money for the recording. "We've got no backing -- no record company, no sponsors, nothing like that," explains Lydon. "The only way we can make money is the touring, and then we can make a new album. It's sort of like the old days of PiL, when the Pistols went kaput; I had to scrimp and scrape out of my own pocket. Not much has changed."

If little indeed has changed, we should expect the unexpected when PiL perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday. While it's been 18 years since the last time they provoked US viewers at home, we're coming up on the 30th anniversary of their first televised appearance in the US -- a head-scratching performance of "Careering Poptones" on American Bandstand to a dumbstruck Dick Clark. They followed that up by making the late Tom Snyder completely lose his cool on The Tom Snyder Show. Lydon may have mellowed over the years, but I'm sure Kimmel and his bookers are betting on the aging punk to giving you something to tweet about.




Elsewhere, Philadelphia's Dr. Dog has a hippy-ish kitchen sink approach to indie rock, and are looking to expand their cult following with their latest release, Shame, Shame, out this week. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, the album still has the band sounding like their from a long lost era, with influences ranging from the roots rock of The Band to the pop confection of The Left Banke. Dr. Dog performs "Stranger," the first single from the album, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, April 5
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: She & Him
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Swell Season (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Peter Wolf
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Arctic Monkeys (REPEAT)
Tuesday, April 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kelis
CURRENT: Embedded: Cold War Kids, Beirut, BLK JKS (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Dan Black
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Slash & Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Dr Dog
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Living Sisters
SYNDICATION: The Ellen Degeneres Show: Citizen Cope
Wednesday, April 7
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Publc Image Ltd.
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Black Lips
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Suzanne Vega
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Angels & Airwaves
SYNDICATION: The Oprah Winfrey Show: Glee Cast
Thursday, April 8
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ludacris (REPEAT)
FOX: Lopez Tonight: Slash
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Justin Bieber
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Circa Survive
Friday, April 9
FUEL: The Daily Habit: De La Soul
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Never Shout Never
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Doves, Noisettes, Lyle Lovett
Saturday, April 10
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Justin Bieber
VH1: NWA: The World's Most Dangerous Group: NWA, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Eazy-E
Sunday, April 11
HBO: Treme: Elvis Costello, Allen Toussaint, Kermit Ruffins, Rebirth Brass Band,

Ear on TV: Week of September 15

It's a razor thin week, as far as live music goes, so the lucky recipient of this week's profile is like a one-eyed man in the land of the blind. Cold War Kids were churned through the blog hype machine with their debut a couple years ago, and barely made it through with band intact. Next week, the Fullerton four piece release their sophomore album, Loyalty to Loyalty, which promises to be much darker. They'll perform the lead single "Something is Not Right With Me" on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Friday, a song which shows a lot of promise for the new album, an album which the band promises to be a bit darker.

Meanwhile, playing the night before on Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson are friends and tour mates Dr. Dog. Cold War Kids and Dr. Dog share a certain hippie indie rock quality to their sound that is easy to hear, in the appreciation of old vinyl and the similar vocal delivery. In fact, if you were to combine their sound, you'd get a band I like a lot: Delta Spirit. Which makes sense, since they've all toured together.

If hippie indie rock is too, um, indie rock for you, there's always the smart folk of Loudon Wainwright III. His latest, Recovery, reworks many of his most famous songs, which means very little to most, as none of his songs fall into the 'famous' category ("Dead Skunk" anyone?) I'm actually a fan of his work, but I realize most know him more as the gynecologist on Knocked Up (a movie for which he did the soundtrack,) and as the father of Rufus and Martha Wainwright.

I'm making a guess, though, that the biggest splash this week will come from the mysterious TBA, who serves as both host and musical guest this week on Saturday Night Live. You have to love the mystery and flexibility that TBA brings with every performance. (UPDATE: Turns out I'm right here -- the musical guest for SNL has been announced as Kings of Leon, along with host James Franco. That's the hazard of writing Monday posts on Fridays.)

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, September 15
Zzzzzzz
Tuesday, September 16
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Tally Hall
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Nelly
Wednesday, September 17
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Terrence Howard (REPEAT)
NBC: The Today Show: Willie Nelson
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: George Clinton
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Loudon Wainwright III
Thursday, September 18
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Fleet Foxes (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Dr. Dog
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Southside Johnny, Willie Nelson
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Kate Nash, Herbie Hancock, Corinne Bailey Rae , Sonya Kitchell (REPEAT)
Friday, September 19
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Cold War Kids
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Duffy (REPEAT)
Saturday, September 20
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Kings of Leon