The Black Keys are fucking rad, and so is Keep It Hid, the debut solo album from BK singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach!!!

The disc, which delves into Auerbach's love of soul, rock, blues, psychedelia and country balladry, is out on February 10th, but here's a little sneak preview from the S.S.

Check out Dan Auerbach's "My Last Mistake" and tell us what you think.

If you dig it check out his upcoming tour dates. 

---

Photo:Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Bob Dylan has licensed his 1963 classic "Blowing in the Wind" to be used in advertisements for the UK-based Cooperative Group.

"Blowing in the Wind" will be used in advertisements for the Cooperative Group's travel, legal and funeral services. Dylan is said to have been cool with licensing the tune because of the company's "ethical stance".

It's not the first time Dylan has sold his songs; he once licensed "The Times They Are A' Changin'" to the Bank of Montreal, and he has appeared in commercials for Victoria's Secret lingerie.

When we interviewed Bob in 2004, we asked him about the Victoria's Secret ad, to which he responded:

"Was I not supposed to do that? I wish I would have seen it. Maybe I'd have something to say about it. I don't see that kind of stuff. That's all for other people to see and make up what they will." 

What do you think of Dylan's business move? Kosher?

---

Photo: Caballero/Wireimage

MTV is reporting that Rachael Ray will return to the South By Southwest Festival to host her second annual party. Apparently, people had fun at last year's shindig at Austin's Beauty Bar.

The rumor is the Hold Steady will play.

We don't know why we get so worked up about this. But, for some reason, we just can't stand that woman.

We were in her general vicinity years ago -- backstage at a Killers concert in Central Park -- and her holier-than-thou attitude totally pissed everyone off. That night she joined a short list of celebrities who we simply abhor, folks who make our skin crawl. Among them are her Food Network cohort Bobby Flay, actor Kevin Bacon and nearly every cast member of Entourage. We also know people who've worked for Rachael Ray who can confirm she's a royal biz-natch.  

If we ever have to hear her say "Mmmmm" again, we're going to gouge out our eardrums.

"I have so many commitments and so many jobs that it'd be really hard for me to sneak out and do this again next year," Ray said after her party last year. (Well isn't she special!)

So here's an idea, Mrs. Ray: Don't do it again! Go tend to your plethora of important commitments! Stay away from SXSW, you evil woman! Austin is a beautiful place, and SXSW is a beautiful thing -- you and your shitty food don't need to ruin it for the rest of us!

---

 [Video: Pete Maiden/Eric Helton; Editing by Pete Maiden]

Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astonauts - "Temporary People"

One of our favorite singer-songwriters, Joseph Arthur, was kind enough to drop by the S.S. to play a few songs, and he brought his band the Lonely Astronauts with him.

One of the most prolific writers around, Arthur was discovered in the early '90s by Peter Gabriel, and signed to Gabriel's label, Real World Records. His debut album, Big City Secrets, was released in 1997 and was followed by the Grammy-nominated EP, Vacancy, in 2000. Since then, Arthur hasn't slowed down. He's released 11 EPs and has just cut his seventh full-lengh album, Temporary People. He's loved by contemporaries like Ryan Adams, Lou Reed and Michael Stipe, who covered Arthur's "In the Sun" for Hurricane Katrina victims. Also a talented painter, Arthur had his own art gallery in Brooklyn before being evicted in September '08.  

Arthur is playing a couple of shows this weekend at the Bell House in his current hometown, Brooklyn, with Harper Simon opening, before shipping off for a mini-tour of France in March.

JA&LA were nice enough to play four tracks off their latest release, Temporary People. Check out the title track above, and click the jump for "Dead Savior," "Turn You On" and "Faith."

(more...)

---

The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains, All of Me, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Three Amigos, Little Shop of Horrors, Roxanne, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Parenthood, L.A. Story, The Spanish Prisoner, Bowfinger... These are but a few of the reasons why we worship Steve Martin.

So it was pretty wild and crazy to pick up the phone and hear Mr. Martin's voice on the other end of the line.

The occasion? Today marks the release of his very first album solely dedicated to music, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo.      

Of course, throughout his stand-up career in the Seventies, when he was playing arenas, the banjo was always a stage prop for Martin. His 1981 comedy album, The Steve Martin Brothers, even included some of his own compositions on banjo. But around that time Martin quit doing stand-up, and his banjo skills started to suffer.

"I just played it at home," he says. "In the mid-Eighties I played a song called 'Clawhammer Medley' in a movie called Simple Twist of Fate, which was not a hit. So I was still up to speed." Then his banjoes began collecting dust, until Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs asked Martin to play on his 2002 album, Earl Scruggs and Friends. "I told him, 'I'm not sure, I'm a little rusty,'" says Martin. "At that point I got into it  again." And Martin would join a handful of pickers on the Scruggs tune, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," which would go on to win a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance. 

"I sit there and look at that Grammy and I'm going, 'This is a fluke,'" says Martin. "The Grammy actually says, 'Best Country Instrumentalist.' I like to have it out when musicians come over."

Finally, with the encouragement and participation of banjo legends like Scruggs, Tony Trishcka, John McEuen and Pete Wernick, Martin has compiled an album of his own compositions, some of which date back to the late Sixties. (Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and the great Tim O'Brien contribute some vocals, as well.) "It was because of a lack of formal instruction that I started writing my own songs," he says. "The others were written in the last four or five years."

Martin will host SNL this weekend, where he'll perform "Late For School," the only track on The Crow that features his very own vocals. "I'm going to sing," he says. "First time since 'King Tut!'"

Enjoy our favorite cut from the album, "Freddie's Lilt," below.

(more...)

---

Photo: Denholm/Getty

---

Photo: Fusco/Getty

A police officer in Brewster, Massachusetts, was suspended after he was caught urinating on another Metallica fan at the band's recent gig in Boston. 

---

Photo: WireImage

The Killers are working a covers album for their next release, the band announced in an interview with Q Magazine.

Drummer Ronnie Vannucci has picked up some new, portable recording equipment so the band can capture covers while touring. Each band member will pick three songs to cover for the album, with Vannucci already pining for Genesis, Tom Waits and Rod Stewart's "Young Turks." 

What do ya think they should cover?

---

Photo:HONDA/AFP/Getty Images

This is pretty amazing.

Check out this gigapan (panoramic image made up of hundreds of individual pictures) of the Inaugural Address. You can zoom in and out, checking out who is important enough to be sitting in the front seats.

It's a great way to search for celebs, (we've spotted Diddy, Denzel Washington, Jay-Z, Beyonce and Aretha Franklin, among others). And although he told us he was there, we still can't find Jack Johnson.

The facial expressions on some of these people are priceless! Take a look at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas sleeping during the President's speech! And how about Newt Gingrich looking really pissed off? 

Perfect!

---

(Smoking Section)

Such an exciting week at Madison Square Garden. Last night we watched the Killers rock the shit out of the World's Most Famous Arena. On Thursday we'll be back for the Kings of Leon, who also sold the joint out.

We can't tell you how many times we've been to the Garden to see heritage acts like Dylan, Clapton, the Stones, McCartney, Springsteen, etc., or pop stars like Timberlake and Madonna, or reunion shows like Jane's Addiction. We're not complaining, but it truly fills us with pride to see the great rock bands of OUR generation finally start to tackle the big venues in the U.S. 

The Killers kicked things off with their new single, "Spaceman." Their twenty-song set felt like a hit parade, though many of the older tunes were awesomely rearranged, like "Sam's Town" and "Bling (Confessions of a King)." Hot Fuss cuts like "Jenny Was A Friend of Mine," "Mr. Brightside," and "Somebody Told Me" stood up to their more adventurous new cuts from Day & Age like "Neon Tiger," "Joy Ride," "Human" and "This Is Your Life." Sam's Town jams like "Bones," "Read My Mind," "For Reasons Unknown," and the set closer, "When You Were Young," blew the roof off the motherfucker. Brandon ran around the stage like a madman, Ronnie beat the shit out of his drums, and Mark and Dave held it down. They added ringers on sax and percussion.

We had the best seats in the house (just look at our photo above), but Flowers was projecting to the cheap seats. When the crowd got into, "I got soul but I'm not a soldier," the chorus was deafening.

The Killers have a handful of U.S. dates before they head out for gigs around the globe. They'll return in April to resume their U.S. tour. Click here to scope out tix.  

---