Adam Lambert Admits He Is Gay

American Idol runner up Adam Lambert has finally come clean with what most of us already suspected - he is gay.

Lambert tells Rolling Stone Magazine:

"I don't think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear I'm gay. I've been living in Los Angeles for eight years as a gay man. I've been at clubs drunk making out with somebody in the corner."

As for the scandal over photos of him in drag that appeared on the Internet this spring, he says he forgot to take down photos from his profile on a social network for the Burning Man festival in Nevada. He admits, "I've only dressed in drag three or four times. ... I don't tuck and wear breasts, that's not me."

Lambert also told the magazine that at age 21 he was in a European tour of Hair for six months. That was when he dyed his hair black and started smoking pot and doing Ecstasy. But he says he does not like cocaine.

Ah yes, a good clean American boy.
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IMPORTANT!!!: WE INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM

Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have but a minute (or two) of your attention...

We here at The Unheard Music, well, really just me, are dedicated to posting rare and unreleased creations by artists we know and love, are fascinated with, and, in the case of Sheryl Crow, are rather disgusted with and want to mock with much joy in our hearts. The disgust line only refers to Sheryl Crow, as I wouldn't run a site of this sort if I didn't love the music I was talking about. All of this said, what would you say if there was a possibility of one or more of the releases discussed here seeing an official release? I'm looking into the potential release of one of the discussed albums if not several of them via an official channel but I first want to know if there is enough interest to proceed forward. I would like you, the reader (hopefully there is more than one of you) to reply to this post and let me know if you would be interested in seeing any of the albums that have been posted here officially released.

As of right now, I'm starting to look into details surrounding the Jungle Brothers "Crazy Wisdom Masters" and Juliana Hatfield's "God's Foot". None of this is to say that I will necessarily be successful, but if you don't try you never know what could have happened. Please drop me a line either in this topic or via e-mail and let me know how you feel about the pursuit of an official release of either of these albums or anything else that has been posted here on the blog. Your input is VERY IMPORTANT and GREATLY APPRECIATED! Thank you!

Another post will be appearing either later tonight or early tomorrow, so...

WE NOW RESUME OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM

Steven Colbert Shaves His Head For Iraq Shows

Comedy Central comedian and funnyman Steven Colbert is off to Camp Victory in Baghdad this week to tape his shows and entertain the troops.

After weeks of super secrecy, a little bit of news has leaked out - the host of "The Colbert Report" has shaved his head military style!

That's right. The ultra conservative comedian, wearing a camouflage suit, had General Raymond Odierno shave his head during the first show.

The four shows are being taped in the domed marble hall at Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace will air this week starting Monday.

Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks, but only vaguely because the military urged caution and would not let him divulge much information.

Instead, he introduced segments with the theme: "Where in the World and When in Time is Stephen Colbert Going to Be in the Persian Gulf?"

The shows are the first ever cable comedy show to be broadcast and transmitted from a war zone.

Way to go Steven!
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Public Image Limited - Commercial Zone

Public Image Limited is difficult to explain even when you know the facts. Started with John Lydon, after leaving the Sex Pistols, and his buddy Keith Levene, an early member of The Clash, PiL, as it was abbreviated, was said to be a company, not a band. Despite this statement, they nonetheless performed and toured as a band and wrote songs which were released for public consumption. Jah Wobble, a childhood friend of Lydon's, was brought on as the bass player despite lacking any knowledge of how to play the instrument, although he did rather well for himself. Martin Atkins later became the drummer and blew people away on a regular basis. Jeanette Lee was also a member of PiL, although she worked with visual aids rather than writing music or performing. Eventually, everyone got fired or left on their own volition leaving Lydon the sole active member. PiL went from being corporate minded to being what would generally be identified as a late-eighties and early-nineties alternative rock-band. The band, or company, or Lydon, depending on how you like to think of PiL, hasn't recorded or released any new material since the early nineties, leading many to believe that it is over and finished, although Lydon has went on record to state that PiL is on "hiatus" and may eventually return. Since said "hiatus", he has released one solo album, in which he played just about every instrument and wrote every song, and is working on a second one when he's not doing whatever he normally does.

I hope I didn't come off rough about Lydon in my brief history of PiL as I actually like the guy. I think he's genuinely creative, interesting and intelligent, despite what many people say or what his "public image" says about him. That said, as obvious as it may be that PiL would never have existed without him, the participation of ex-members Keith Levene, Jah Wobble and Martin Atkins is just as important and should not be discounted. Keith is just as essential, if not more so, to the origins of PiL than Lydon, and his playing and use of then-new technologies like samplers inspired a lot of the post-punk and post-rock sounds coming out of the early eighties. He is also the party responsible for the existence of "Commercial Zone" as we know it.

In 1981 and 1982, PiL had reconvened to begin recording a new album. Lydon had a role in a film called "Copkiller" starring Harvey Keitel and began writing a piece named "The Slab" which was later renamed "The Order Of Death" to possibly be used in the film, or at least that's what is commonly accepted at the truth. During this period, Lydon and Atkins were doing more of the writing and production on the new recordings, leaving Levene out or removing his contributions. Levene, understandably, was not happy with this and decided to leave the band, but not before making off with a copy of the masters for the then unfinished album. He tried to get Richard Branson, head of Virgin Records, to release the material as the new PiL album, but Lydon intervened and Branson refused, leading Levene to move back to the US and release it there as "Commercial Zone". Lydon and Atkins were furious, claiming they owned the rights to the recordings which they probably did. Levene didn't seem too bothered by it and, when the then-current PiL lineup decided to release their new album, "This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get" in 1984, Levene reissued "Commercial Zone" as a limited edition release with a slightly altered track order and at least one song shortened. PiL successfully forced "Commercial Zone" out of print permanently shortly after it's reissue, but it became fodder for bootleggers and mythical to anyone interested in the band, Lydon or Levene.

What I'm posting here today is a copy of the original issued version of the "Commercial Zone" album. I quite enjoy this album and feel it's a shame it most likely won't ever see an official release, but there are high quality copies floating around so at least we have those. I am also posting a collection of unreleased recordings from this same period of time that showed up online in 2006. Initially, this collection consisted of a live show from an unknown date, a rehearsal for the 1983 lineup's tour, and the aforementioned unreleased recordings which are clearly from the same era as the recording of the "Commercial Zone" album. Some of the tracks are alternate versions of the CZ tracks, many of them are untitled instrumentals. There has been speculation that these CZ tracks and instrumentals may have been intended for the "Copkiller" film, but this has never been verified. There is an alternate version of the "This Is What You Want..." track "1981" and the full "Flowers Of Romance" single despite it having been officially released. I've also included a track generally identified by fans as "Vampire", an instrumental featuring Martin Atkins' percussion with sound effects described by him as sounding like "dinosaurs". These sounds were achieved by Atkins recording the sound of him drinking bottled water and then slowing it down significantly. Also, this track was, for reasons unclear, included on the rehearsal recording, but is definitely a studio recording and actually dates from the "Flowers Of Romance" sessions. So calling this second collection "Commercial Zone Demos" or outtakes isn't quite accurate, since while the majority of them are from that period, several of them have nothing to do with that album, but the name sticks since that is what it is commonly referred to as online.

If you want to learn more about Public Image Limited, Lydon, Levene, Atkins, Wobble and anything else related to the PiL universe, I suggest you visit the astoundingly detailed Fodderstompf site. I'm sure you will find their details of the "Commercial Zone" debacle far more detailed than my own, but as I'm not running a PiL-specific site I think I can be forgiven. Enjoy!

Public Image Limited - Commercial Zone

01 Love Song
02 Mad Max
03 Bad Night
04 Solitaire
05 The Slab
06 Lou Reed Pt. 1
07 Lou Reed Pt. 2
08 Blue Water
09 Miller Hi-Life


Public Image Limited - Commercial Zone Demos and Outtakes

01 The Slab
02 Instrumental #1
03 Instrumental #2
04 Bad Night
05 Instrumental #3
06 Instrumental #4
07 Bad Night/Love Song
08 Instrumental #5
09 Instrumental #6
10 Instrumental #7
11 1981
12 Flowers Of Romance (Single Version)
13 Flowers Of Romance (Instrumental)
14 Vampire

Actor David Carradine Dead In Thailand

Update: It is looking more and more like David died by accident either from a bondage fetish, or an auto-erotica asphyxiation session.

His third wife, Gail Jensen, has come forward telling the press the actor was into some strange things:

"David was pretty strange. He liked to get tied up. He would tie himself up and I would walk in and see him and say 'Oh my God, David, you got to be kidding me - and I would turn around and walk out.

I would leave him to his own sexual devices. He liked to be tied up. And he could tie himself up ... He spent days planning a different feature. He would go to a hardware store and buy the stuff."

Last week, a Thai publication called Thai Rath published what it said was the death photo taken by officials at the scene. The death picture showed a man hanging by his neck with his hands tied above his head. It is noy clear if the man hanging in the picture is Carradine.


Actor David Carradine Found Dead In Thailand - Hanging In A Closet

Kung Fu actor and celebrity David Carradine has been found dead in a Thailand hotel - naked with a rope around his neck.

An autopsy has been scheduled for Friday.

Carradine, 72, who was in Bangkok filming his latest movie, had commented back in 2004 that he had thought about suicide. But everybody around him on his current film project said he was in great spirits and in a good mood over the last days and weeks.

David had been staying at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel in Bangkok.

Reports have surfaced that a hotel maid found his naked body hanging inside a closet with a rope around his neck. Officials say he had been dead for at least 12 hours.

The actor had been busy, with no less then seven projects in their final stages of production, including "Night Of The Templar", about a Medieval Knight who is resurrected to fulfill his vow and bestow a blood-thirst vengeance upon the kindred spirits of those who betrayed him long ago.

According to an IMDB list of his projects, the actor has appeared in over 200 movie and television projects since 1963, becoming famous for his roles in "Kung Fu" and the Quentin Tarantino "Kill Bill" franchise.

In "Kill Bill - Vol. 2," (2004), his character comes face to face with Bill himself. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.

Carradine was a leading member of a respected Hollywood acting family that included his father, John Carradine and brother Keith.
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Self - Ornament & Crime

Matt Mahaffey is Self. That's not to say that other people don't contribute to Self or that the band doesn't consist of others at times, but without Matt, Self would not exist. Sadly, at this point, Self barely does exist, and while that has to do with personal issues a lot of it also stems from the non-release of their fifth proper album.

Mahaffey and Self originate from Murfreesboro, Tennessee and were signed to independent label, Spongebath Records. Their first full length, "Subliminal Plastic Motives", was released in conjunction with Spongebath and Zoo Records, though they began releasing albums through Spongebath independently, posting free collections of unreleased songs and providing music for film and commercial work. Eventually, Dreamworks Records came calling and a deal was made leading to Self's first major label release, "Breakfast With Girls". The album wasn't a big seller and there was pressure from the label to deliver a hit, so Matt moved to LA to be closer to Dreamworks. He began working very closely with his A&R and other label people to choose the perfect songs for his pop masterpiece even though it was a compromise that he didn't want artistically. Nonetheless, he knew how great this could be for the band if this got him radio and video play and finished the album.

The story, as Matt told it, is the day he went to turn the final album in to the label he entered the building to find that Dreamworks had just announced it was closing the music distribution end of their organization and would not be releasing any new albums at this time. Dreamworks Records was part of the Universal Records family of labels and select bands and artists had their contracts transferred to other labels immediately. Self was not one of those bands and Universal would not relinquish the rights to the album without a significant payment which Matt did not have. As if this wasn't bad enough news, in 2005, Mike, Matt's brother and a regular contributor to the band, died unexpectedly.

Grieving and frustrated with his album's non-release, Matt started working with Jeff Turzo, previously of God Lives Underwater, as a production duo and band under the name Wired All Wrong. Matt considers the group to be an artistic rebirth, especially since his involvement in the band, unlike Self, is a partnership and he doesn't handle the production or songwriting duties on his own. Also, in Jeff Turzo he has a partner who has gone through a similar situation with the death of his friend and fellow GLU-bandmate, David Reilly.

Regardless of the success of Wired All Wrong, Self is still Matt's band and he would like to see their fifth album, "Ornament & Crime", receive a proper release. He has also tried to release a dvd of Self concerts from recent years but that has suffered similar setbacks as well. Understandably, Matt would like to see these Self-related projects released, but it looks more unlikely as time goes by, especially with Wired All Wrong becoming more successful along with his other film, television and production duties.

"Ornament & Crime" has had two leaks, the first being a collection of early versions and rough mixes, and the second being the finished album. I'm posting the finished album here today, but it should be noted that it's not believed to be mastered and the sequence may not be finalized. On top of that, if you enjoy the album as it is you should definitely download "Porno, Mint & Grime", the companion collection of outtakes and unused tracks from the O&C-era which is available for free at the EXCELLENT Self fan-site, Selfies.

It's been said on several occasions that Matt wishes the album hadn't leaked as he still hopes for it to be released in one way or another, but the longer the wait the less likely it becomes that this will happen. Nonetheless, you should definitely support Matt if you can by buying Wired All Wrong's releases or Self releases when they are available. Most Self releases are out of print, but some of them may see reissue soon, at least digitally, as two of them, including the amazing "Gizmodgery", were independent releases via Spongebath. Who knows, if there is enough support behind Matt's current releases, "Ornament & Crime" may eventually see release as at least a digital download!


Self - Ornament & Crime

01 LA Radio
02 Hellbent
03 Emotional
04 Insecure Sober
05 Pathetic
06 How Can I Make You Happy?
07 Can't Go On
08 Coming Over
09 No One Knows You
10 Grow Up
11 The Pounding Truth
12 Out With A Bang

Late! - Pocketwatch

If you like early Foo Fighters, you'll definitely like Late! That's because it's Dave Grohl prior to Saint Cobain's death. I know, many of you were probably well aware of this and I have offended your sensibilities. My apologies, I just like to inject a little humor from time to time.

Anyway, Late! was Dave's project from 1992 and was released only as a cassette through the long-deceased Simple Machines label. As with the first Foo Fighters album, Dave played all instruments and wrote almost everything, which historically drummers are not known for, but our Dave was a man of many unknown talents and would introduce them to us over the next decade or so, but in 1992 he was having fun during his off-time with Nirvana and, not trying to upstage his day-job, quietly released the "Pocketwatch" cassette as a mail-order only item. At the time it certainly looked like it would be a Nirvana-related rarity that only the die-hardest of fans would show interest in, but of course time told a different story.

For the most part, these songs have all lurked in obscurity on bootleg compilations, trader lists and sharing blogs :) but a few actually found release in one form another. Most notable of the few released tracks was "Color Pictures Of A Marigold" which was re-recorded by Nirvana as "Marigold" during the "In Utero" sessions and featured Dave on vocals. It was released as a b-side but fans definitely liked it. "Marigold" was again re-recorded along with "Friend Of A Friend" for the Foo Fighters' "Skin and Bones" acoustic album in 2006, and "Just Another Story About Skeeter Thompson" was somewhat misleadingly released on The Melvins' "King Buzzo" EP in 1992 as "Skeeter", even though it was only a remix of Dave's Late! version and featured no participation from The Melvins. "Winnebago" was also re-recorded and saw release as an early Foo Fighters b-side, although there isn't anything terribly different about it apart from a mid-track shout-out to someone named either Chad or Gregg who supposedly wrote the lyrics.

After the Foo Fighters became popular, the "Pocketwatch" cassette was widely bootlegged on b-side and rarities compilations and often listed as the "Pocketwatch Demos". Misleading information from a bootleg? Shocking! But to be serious, that's how legends are created only to be broken by the hardest of the hard-core fans who find the true stories about where the songs came from and provide me with the backing knowledge to write this blog. Aww, did I just reveal part of my secret? In all honesty though, I've known about the "Pocketwatch" cassette since 1996 when a fellow Bowling Green attendee turned me on to them when it became clear we were both Nirvana fans. I never got ANYTHING from that redhead I was trying to lure from his dorm, but knowledge was gained, a friendship was born and a lo-fi dub of the "Pocketwatch" cassette came into my possession.

This is a very good quality rip of the "Pocketwatch" cassette taken from a lossless source, but said lossless source was a bootleg cd so it's not as if I own an original cassette. On top of that, for the audio purists out there, since the album was released as a cassette in the first place the quality of any release will never achieve cd-quality if it's transferred from a consumer-grade cassette, so I'm sorry if I'm trampling on anyone's hopes and dreams here, but those are the facts. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this release for what it is, a snapshot of Dave Grohl's solo-excursions prior to his seriously considering them as a full-time job. These tracks showed a lot of promise in their time so it's no wonder that at least four of them have seen a release of some sort.


Late! - Pocketwatch

01 Pokey The Little Puppy
02 Petrol CB
03 Friend Of A Friend
04 Throwing Needles
05 Just Another Story About Skeeter Thompson
06 Color Pictures Of A Marigold
07 Hell's Garden
08 Winnebago
09 Bruce
10 Milk