Good news! 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 out on the stands! (A full description of its contents, including some sample quotes, is just below!) Remember, we only come our 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. Click here for more info.

Pre-order – Subscribe – Renew – Great gifts!

Subscribers: Update Your Address ASAP (if changed)

Once 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.

IMPORTANT: If you are a subscriber and you need to update your address, please tell us right away, as we need to have the shipping order ASAP.

And since the issue will soon be shipped to subscribers and stores, now is an excellent time to pre-order it if you would like to receive it , or subscribe if you’ve been meaning to; or renew your subscription if it has run out. And remember, BIG TAKEOVER ISSUES, BACK ISSUES, T-SHIRTS, CDS (including the brand new, limited edition SPRINGHOUSE CD album, From Now to OK), AND SUBSCRIPTIONS ALSO MAKE THE PERFECT GIFT! Especially in this time when we are all trying to economize.

If you want to subscribe or renew or give the gift that keeps on giving this holiday, just go to our secure online Yahoo store (and feel free to indicate which issue you’d like to start with (or have your friends start with), issue 62 (R.E.M. cover), issue 63 (Death Cab For Cutie cover). Or the upcoming 64 (Decemberists). It’s only $20 for four issues (save 23% off the newstand price including average sales tax), or $32 for overseas. Or, for those in the U.S. you can send us a check made out to “Big Takeover” for $20 to the following address:

The Big Takeover
1713 8th Ave. Rm. 5-2
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Or if you want to pre-order just the upcoming issue 64, you can send us a check for $6 to that address or order online at pre-order

(As ever, there are back issues, T-shirts, and CDs available there as well if you’re interested, for you, or your friends for birthdays or father’s day!)

Here, again, is what’s in the issue:

Interviews

Decemberists (cover) * Darker My Love * Death Cab For Cutie Pt. 2 * Of Montreal * Magnetic Morning (Interpol/Swervedriver) * Sloan Pt. 2 * ‘60s greats The Move * Devo Pt. 2 * The Rutles/Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s Neil Innes * 1977 L.A. punks The Controllers * ‘60s legends The Sonics * Meat Puppets * The Thermals * Bob Mould * Miranda Lee Richards * Airborne Toxic Event * Mark Olson & Gary Louris (Jayhawks) * Vic Chesnutt * Matinée Records, * Wild Swans * Comet Gain * What Records/Illoki/Wondercap’s Chris Ashford

Editorials

Rabid: Autopsy of a Recession: Big Takeover Readers Were Warned! * Ackerman: The New Cinderella (Susan Boyle) and the Love of the Underdog * Sommer: The True Path To The Outside: Sleep, Neu!, Branca, and the Pursuit of Rock ’n’ Roll Rebellion Most Pure

Live Reviews

Darker My Love * The Black Watch * Dickies * For Against * Mission of Burma * My Bloody Valentine * Mike Ness * A.C. Newman * The Pains of Being Pure at Heart/Let’s Wrestle · The Pretenders * Sleepover Disaster * The Sun and the Moon * Thee Sgt. Major III * T.S.O.L.

Hundreds of CD Reviews

Maximo Park * Blitzen Trapper * Isley Brothers * Morrissey * The Monks * Birdwatchers of America * Miles Davis * The Rifles * BB King * Camera Obscura * DJ Bonebrake Trio * The Dimes * Doves * XTC as Dukes of Stratosphere * Dipsomaniacs * Disciplines * Elba * Cheap Trick * Tommy James & the Shondells * Friends * Chip Kinman & PCH * Adam Franklin * The Hotels * Husband and Wife * Great Northern * Miles Hunt (Wonder Stuff) * Charlotte Hatherley * John Doe & the Sadies * Kingsbury Manx * Tommy Keene * Roy Harper * The Moog * John Lee Hooker * Billie Holiday * Wipers * Mott the Hoople * The Nerves * New Radiant Storm King * Penetration * Robert Pollard * Otis Redding * Pavement * School of Seven Bells * The Damned * Los Shakers * Seldon Plan * Smithereens * Snowglobe * Spores * Rhino 39/Black Randy & the Metrosquad * Robyn Hitchcock * Residents * Undertones * Gary Usher * Volcano Suns * Wheat * Neil Young * and more!

Hope you all pre-order it, or buy it when it’s out! And/or hope you subscribe, as that is still by far the best way to support the print magazines you love if you want them to keep going. It means a lot to them!

And hope you can share the gift of reading with your friends!

P.S.— Remember, Big Takeover subscriptions (and shirts, cds, and back issues) make the perfect gift!

Just wanted to extend a happy & healthy new year to everyone!

Visit our friends at Punkcast.com to view a recent performance by Jack Rabid's band, Springhouse at Southpaw in Brooklyn!

"Amongst NYC's leading punk luminaries is Jack Rabid - founder, editor, and major contributor to the Big Takeover fanzine. What is not so well known is that Jack is also an accomplished musician, drumming in the 80's with a punk band 'Even Worse', then in the early 90's with shogaze outfit Springhouse, and then later on with the Last Burning Embers. The most successful of these, by a fair margin, was Springhouse. Formed in 1988 they released 2 albums and toured widely over the next 5 years or so. Just like their BritPop-founding touring mates they probably would have gone on to major stardom if they'd stuck at it through thick and thin. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, they all had better things to do - Jack his journalism, singer/guitarist Mitch Friedland his vocation as a New York City Paramedic, and particularly bassist/producer Larry Heinemann as Musical Director to the Blue Man Group, amongst others. In 1998 they started work on a 3rd album and, after just 10 years, including a brief reformation to open for the Chamelons in 2002, 'From Now To OK' was finally released in 2008. A brief east coast tour was arranged to celebrate, going out with the Interpol/ Swervedriver offshoot duo Magnetic Morning. Despite the NUC date being scheduled during the midst of CMJ 2008 I made it my business to be there - well I did arrive four songs or so into the set. Larry it turned out had to be in Europe with the BMG, so his place was taken by Jack's Burning Ember bandmate Dave Bourakas. The first song here 'Moving Van' is possibly the instant hit from the new album, while the second semi auto-biographical 'Alley Park' is from 1993's 'Postcards from the Attic'. Finally 'Eskimo' on which we hear Jack's raspy vocals, is one of their earliest songs - the title track from a 1990 EP."

A big thanks for all of your support throughout 2008. We wish you all the best this holiday season!

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Reminder: Big Takeover Still Time For X-mas Gifts / Issue 63 Now Out!

Just a reminder that there's still time for the perfect X-mas gift: Big Takeover magazine! Our brand new Fall/Winter issue 63 with the Death Cab For Cutie cover is now out on the stands (a description of its contents is below), in case you want to treat yourself (you little devil!). Or indeed, if you want a holiday gift subscription for your friends or family whom you think would enjoy our pages (or one of our t-shirts, or any of our back issues, or our CDs), either way you can order on our secure online store with Visa or Master Card,

Just let us know in the "comments" section of the order form that the order is for X-mas (why not write, in all caps, "RUSH! THIS IS FOR X-MAS!"), and we will be glad to send the package by priority mail to ensure it gets there fast and on time. And include in the "gift message" section anything you want to say, and we'll take it from there.

If it is for a subscription that you want to start with 62 (R.E.M. cover) or the brand new 63 (Death Cab For Cutie cover), we will similarly send the first issue(s) by priority mail. (If you want it to start them with 64 in the spring, we will also be glad to send a postcard for now to let them know about your gift, and that it is from you, with any message you might include.)

Remember, two-year, four-issue subscriptions are just $20 ($32 overseas and Canada), about 23% off the newsstand price including taxes, and our other stuff is even less. Good values in these leaner times! A holiday gift that keeps on giving.

For our other stuff, our t-shirts come in three colors (black, white, and dark red) and six sizes (four men's, two women's -- the shirts are only $12, even including postage!), all but two of our back issues are still available (if your friends like a specific band we've featured; and there's always the mega-deluxe gift, the complete set of all of our 63 issues to date, including the two that are out of print!), and we are also offering used, good-quality CD copies of the three out of print SPRINGHOUSE CDs from 1991-1993 as well as sealed, new copies of EVEN WORSE, LAST BURNING EMBERS, DOUG GILLARD, NON-LINEAR THINKERS and EDP!

(Best of all, we are now also selling the brand new -- first album in 15 years! -- SPRINGHOUSE limited edition, 550 copies Bruce Licher-designed letter-press deluxe art package CD, From Now to OK, which would also make an excellent gift!

See why Paste magazine gave it an 86 out of 100 in their new issue on the stands, or hear a few tracks at myspace.com/springhouse. Or you can order "pay what you want" downloads of the new album at springhousemusic.net!)

For those without a credit card who want to mail us a check made out to "The Big Takeover" for a holiday subscription or other gift check (using the prices on our store), that would be possible too, but you'd have to hurry. Here's the address:

Big Takeover Magazine
1713 8th Ave. Rm. 5-2
Brooklyn, NY 11215 USA

In any case, there was a lot of information on our new issue 63 in my last email a month ago, repeated and updated below with some sample quotes if want to know more.

Hope you all buy now that it's out! And/or hope you subscribe, as that is still by far the best way to support the print magazines you love if you want them to keep going. It means a lot to them!

And on behalf of myself and our entire staff of friends at The Big Takeover, we wish you the best of holiday seasons and a cool New Year too!

Yours,
Jack Rabid, editor and publisher, 1980-to-present

Here, again, is what's in the issue:

Interviews

Death Cab For Cutie (cover) * Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten, Pt. 2 * Fleet Foxes * Spiritualized * Sloan * Feelies * Devo * The Zombies (Chris White & Hugh Grundy) * Band of Holy Joy * Mudhoney * Rock Writer V. Vale (Search & Destroy, RE/Search), Pt. 2 * Top 50 Reggae LPs, Pt. 2! * MGMT * Calexico * Deerhunter * Dropsonic * Everest * Frightened Rabbit * Joey Cape/Lagwagon * Jealous Girlfriends * Jason Ringenberg * Corleone Records

Sample quotes:

"Look, I recommend this business, I do, to anyone who really cares about, and thinks they have, ideas that matter. But don't get involved in pop music if you just want to be famous. It's not the place for vacuous idiocy at all. It's severe. It's terse, tense, bitter, and ultimately, no one you meet in this business is your friend. Not one of them. They all want to replace ya." -- JOHNNY ROTTEN

"Plans may end up seeming like more of an anomaly, I guess. It's not as though I'm not proud of it, or I dislike it, but it feels really different to me now, like us trying on a whole new wardrobe and picking pieces of it that were working. But then stepping back into what we were more used to wearing." -- DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

"You win through history, and that's the fight I'm hoping to win, too. I'm waiting for -- well, you've always been good to us -- but I'm always waiting for my apology Mojo issue, devoted to all of our records!" -- SLOAN

" you can't be popular and have people "get" . Like Bob Dylan, when he finally had a Top 40 hit, there'd be all these horrible guys drinking beer singing "like a rolling stone." The very people we're talking about who were intolerant to the outsider, the fringe people, the artists, and the losers, and yet they're all singing that! But he could never be popular if it required understanding what he was saying. So something else happened." -- DEVO

Editorials

Rabid: Goodbye George Bush, Hello Financial Crisis; Where is the Angry Right? * Ackerman: Record Industry Bust and the Baby Boomers * Sommer: The Rich Kids, The Professionals, PiL, and the Lost Legacy Of The Sex Pistols

Live Reviews

Baby Lemonade * The Black Watch (/Jason Falkner) * Death Cab For Cutie * Devo * Rob Dickinson * The Effigies (/EDP/False Prophets) * Don McGlashan (Crowded House/PS22 choir) * New Model Army * R.E.M. * Rogue Wave * Sam Phillips * Sloan * Swervedriver * Astrid Williamson * Wire * Hippiefest (Jonathan Edwards, Melanie, Turtles, Joey Molland/Badfinger, Eric Burdon & the Animals

Hundreds of CD Reviews

American Music Club * Baby Lemonade * Bad Religion * Belle & Sebastian * Billy Bragg * The Breeders * Busy Signals * Gene Clark * The Coast * The Clash * CSNY * Darker My Love * Ray Davies * Decemberists * Rob Dickinson * D.O.A. * Everest * Fatal Film * Fleet Foxes * Franz Ferdinand * Futureheads * Goo Goo Dolls * Ideal Free Distribution * Iggy & the Stooges * International Jetsetters * Neil Halstead * Billie Holiday * Jan & Dean * Rick Johnson reader * Damien Jurado * Love * Magnetic Morning * Colin Meloy * Mercury Rev * Mogwai * Motorhead * Willie Nelson * Oasis * Pas/Cal * Robert Pollard * Sebadoh * Section 25 * Ron Sexsmith * Skybombers * Sleepover Disaster * Patti Smith & Kevin Shields * Smithereens * Snow Patrol * Stereolab * Subhumans (Canada) * Supergrass * Matthew Sweet * T.S.O.L. * Vancougar * Velouria * Wire * Wolf Parade * and more!

Just wanted to let you know that there is now a Facebook group page for the Big Takeover. You can see it here, but you may need to have a Facebook account to see it. Everyone is welcome to join!

Just in time for the Holiday Season!

Once again the big news is that Big Takeover 63 with Death Cab For Cutie on the cover, and concluding part two of our awesome Johnny Rotten Sex Pistols interview was completed in San Francisco in October! (A full description of its contents is just below!) It will begin shipping this week likely, so you should see it quite soon! Below is a quick description of its contents.

IMPORTANT: If you are a subscriber and you need to update your address, please tell us right away, as we need to have the shipping order ASAP. Send updates to me at www.bigtakeover.com/contact.

And since the issue will soon be shipped to subscribers and stores, now is an excellent time to pre-order it if you would like to receive it , or subscribe if you've been meaning to; or renew your subscription if it has run out. And remember, BIG TAKEOVER ISSUES, BACK ISSUES, TSHIRTS, CDS (including the brand new, limited edition SPRINGHOUSE CD album, From Now to OK), AND SUBSCRIPTIONS ALSO MAKE THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT! Especially in this season when we are all trying to economize.

If you want to subscribe or renew or give the gift that keeps on giving this holiday, just go to our secure online Yahoo store (and feel free to indicate which issue you'd like to start with (or have your friends start with), issue 61 (NEW PORNS cover), issue 62 (R.E.M. cover). Or the upcoming 63 (Death Cab For Cutie). It's only $20 for four issues (save 23% off the newstand price including average sales tax), or $32 for overseas. Or, for those in the U.S. you can send us a check made out to "Big Takeover" for $20 to the following address:

The Big Takeover
1713 8th Ave. Rm. 5-2
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Or if you want to pre-order just the upcoming issue 63, you can send us a check for $6 to that address or order online at pre-order

(As ever, there are back issues, T-shirts, and CDs available there as well if you're interested, for you, or your friends on the holidays!)

Here, again, is what's in the issue:

Interviews

Death Cab For Cutie (cover) * Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten, Pt. 2 * Fleet Foxes * Spiritualized * Sloan * Feelies * Devo * The Zombies (Chris White & Hugh Grundy) * Band of Holy Joy * Mudhoney * Rock Writer V. Vale (Search & Destroy, RE/Search), Pt. 2 * Top 50 Reggae LPs, Pt. 2! * MGMT * Calexico * Deerhunter * Dropsonic * Everest * Frightened Rabbit * Joey Cape/Lagwagon * Jealous Girlfriends * Jason Ringenberg * Corleone Records

Editorials

Rabid: Goodbye George Bush, Hello Financial Crisis; Where is the Angry Right? * Ackerman: Record Industry Bust and the Baby Boomers * Sommer: The Rich Kids, The Professionals, PiL, and the Lost Legacy Of The Sex Pistols

Live Reviews

Baby Lemonade * The Black Watch (/Jason Falkner) * Death Cab For Cutie * Devo * Rob Dickinson * The Effigies (/EDP/False Prophets) * Don McGlashan (Crowded House/PS22 choir) * New Model Army * R.E.M. * Rogue Wave · Sam Phillips * Sloan * Swervedriver * Astrid Williamson * Wire * Hippiefest (Jonathan Edwards, Melanie, Turtles, Joey Molland/Badfinger, Eric Burdon & the Animals

Hundreds of CD Reviews

American Music Club * Baby Lemonade * Bad Religion * Belle & Sebastian * Billy Bragg * The Breeders * Busy Signals * Gene Clark * The Coast * The Clash * CSNY * Darker My Love * Ray Davies * Decemberists * Rob Dickinson * D.O.A. * Everest * Fatal Film * Fleet Foxes * Franz Ferdinand * Futureheads * Goo Goo Dolls * Ideal Free Distribution * Iggy & the Stooges * International Jetsetters * Neil Halstead * Billie Holiday * Jan & Dean * Rick Johnson reader * Damien Jurado * Love * Magnetic Morning * Colin Meloy * Mercury Rev * Mogwai * Motorhead * Willie Nelson * Oasis * Pas/Cal * Robert Pollard * Sebadoh * Section 25 * Ron Sexsmith * Skybombers * Sleepover Disaster * Patti Smith & Kevin Shields * Smithereens * Snow Patrol * Stereolab * Subhumans (Canada) * Supergrass * Matthew Sweet * T.S.O.L. * Vancougar * Velouria * Wire * Wolf Parade * and more!

Hope you all pre-order it, or buy it when it's out! And/or hope you subscribe, as that is still by far the best way to support the print magazines you love if you want them to keep going. It means a lot to them!

And hope you can share the gift of reading with your friends this holiday!

Cheers!
Jack R

P.S.-- Remember, Big Takeover subscriptions (and shirts, cds, and back issues) make the perfect gift!

Springhouse and the upcoming Big Takeover tour got a fantastic mention over at the Brooklyn Vegan music blog this week. Thanks for the love guys! Read it all here!

Springhouse reforms for new third LP From Now to OK and East Coast tour dates 2008, with Magnetic Morning and Julie Ocean!

Here's all the info on Jack's old band Springhouse's first LP in 15 years (since they were on the Caroline label), From Now to OK, and accompanying "Big Takeover Magazine Presents" East Coast tour with two huge favorites of ours, Magnetic Morning and Julie Ocean!

Click here for the full story!