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“Watermelon in Easter Hay” live, 1988.
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“Feels So Good,” because you know you love the smooth, creamy cheese.
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“Lollipop.” I know Meds’ll be happy I picked this one, since apparently it was good/bad enough to mention in one of his more recent year-end lists. Enjoy the cavities.
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 George Michael has a new album coming out this Tuesday, Twenty-Five, and for the first time in almost two decades, he will be coming to the US for a 20-city tour beginning June 17 in San Diego. For more information, please visit www.georgemichael.com. Pop/rock powerhouses Maroon 5 and Counting Crows will hit the road together this summer beginning July 25 and running through October 4. In addition to the two bands, Sara Bareilles and Augustana will split support duties. The Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis kicks off May 2, and some of the confirmed acts are Lou Reed, My Chemical Romance, Santana, Disturbed, Seether, Finger Eleven and Fergie. For more information, go to www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com. Fall Out Boy was all set to make history by performing in Antarctica (more…) |
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Frankly, I’m surprised no one thought of this before. The LA math rockers Bad Dudes assembled one hilarious clip for their song “Eat Drugs” from vintage rock videos from the ‘70s and ‘80s. And for whatever reason, they included Information Society’s Kurt Harland on roller skates. Some bits are more of a stretch than others, but the Devo part is uncanny. Bravo, gents. This’ll get people talking about your band. |
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Looking for some new reviews on some of the latest music releases? Look no further! We have just the thing to take away thine curiosity and replace it with good, clean knowledge. How can you beath that? You can’t! Say, that new Raconteurs disc Consolers of the Lonely came out of the proverbial left field this week, didn’t it? Sure did, and Bullz-Eye has Mojo Flucke’s review of it. “Jack’s on top of his game here, as always. God forbid the day he mails in a half-baked record and all his pissed-off rock-critic chickens come back to roost,” says Mojo. Critic David Medsker has recently done the 180 on the band Panic At The Disco. Their new album Pretty. Odd. has left him praising the group, mentioning that “…this, as far as we know, is the real Panic at the Disco, and God help them if they ever decide to go back to being wordy emo dorks. Pretty. Odd – they appear to have moved the awkward punctuation out of their band name and into their album titles – is as massive as pop records get these days.” Not bad at all. Check out the full write-up here. For all the Sevendust fans out there, the band’s latest Chapter VII: Hope and Sorrow is out and about and Bill Clark lets you in on his thoughts about the disc, saying that “The album contains nary a dull moment, as is the case with every Sevendust record to date, but the collective effect doesn’t match that of Alpha or Animosity – the two albums that the band puts in the blender to achieve their sound here. ” Spinning the dial over to Rolling Stone, critic Caryn Ganz reviews the latest from Moby, a little number entitled Last Night. “A concept album about an all-night bender, Last Night solidifies Moby’s link in the chain that binds DJ pioneers like Todd Terry to slinky futurists like Justice.” Yes, but is it any good? Next, at Billboard, Jeff Vrabel offers up his take on the latest from Flo Rida entitled Mail on Sunday. “Flo Rida’s flow is an engaging/ringy-dingy/he-sounds-like-Nelly thing. ” Hey is that good or bad? Moving along to NPR, Tom Manoff explores the latest recording by keyboardist and conductor Richard Egarr. “While I’ve admired Egarr’s recordings for some time, he’s even better in person. His recent performance with the Portland Baroque Orchestra was one of the most exciting musical evenings I’ve had in years,” notes Manoff. We’ll land this mother at Almost Cool this week. They’re taking aim at the new Fuck Buttons album Street Horrsing. “On the surface, this Bristol, UK duo isn’t doing anything entirely new, but they are taking crazy noise and melting it with a bit of primal energy and a wisp of gorgeous textures and melody to create something that sounds just new enough that their name is worth remembering for more than novelty status.” I’m there. |
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“She’s Gone.” So seem Daryl and John. Good God, Daryl’s not even bothering to lip sync in some of this. And what’s with those outfits? Oates is creepin’ me out, man.
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It’s taken Axl Rose so long to get off his arse and release Guns ‘N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy that it was only a matter of time that someone sought medical help. Enter…Dr. Pepper. According to the New York Post, if Axl ships the album in 2008, everyone in America - except estranged guitarists Slash and Buckethead - will receive a free can of Dr. Pepper. “It took a little patience for us to perfect Dr Pepper’s special mix of 23 ingredients, so we completely understand and empathize with Axl’s question for the perfect album,” said a company spokesperson. UPDATE: According to Rolling Stone, Axl has responded to Dr. Pepper’s offer. In a press release, Rose says, “We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr. Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy, as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead’s performances are on our album, I’ll share my Dr. Pepper with him.” |
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Remember how bad Ramiel was on “American Idol” Tuesday? Remember how I wrote yesterday that she was just about a lock to go home? Well, she wasn’t even in the bottom 3 in last night’s results show. I know there are always surprises, but geez. Anyway, here is how the show went down. 30 million votes, blah blah blah. Group song, blah blah blah. Recap of Tuesday, blah blah blah. Chikezie, bottom 3….I didn’t think he was all that bad but apparently America did. Brooke White, safe. Carly Smithson, safe. Then a break, blah blah blah. David Archuleta, safe. David Cook , and we find out he didn’t arrange that cool version of “Billie Jean”…it was in fact Chris Cornell, who Ryan Seacrest had to mention called in to the show and said he loved Cook’s version of his version. Anyway, David, very safe. Syesha Mercado, Bottom 3. What? She was amazing on Tuesday, so America in my mind right now is not a great judge of talent. Michael Johns, safe. “Idol Gives Back,” blah blah blah. Dolly Parton mentoring next week, blah blah blah. Then Season 2’s Kimberly Locke performed her song, “Fall.” She looked great and has an incredibly powerfull voice, but this song was as bland as a plain potato. The music industry suits need to start letting real songs back in instead of formulaic crap, or it’s all going to blow up in their faces. Then they took some phone calls….and this was pretty funny last night, as one of the callers asked Simon Cowell if he thought it would be easy for her to eventually take Ryan Seacrest’s job. Then another caller asked David Archuleta why he picked that awful song, “You’re the Voice,” on Tuesday. Back to the results. Ramiel, safe. Here we go….I mean, she’s cute and all, and has a decent voice…but better than Syesha? No way. Did Danny Noriega call 5000 times to vote for his pal? Kristy Lee Cook, safe…and that was no surprise, because she really did a very smart thing by grabbing all the red state votes with “God Bless the U.S.A.” What’s that, Ryan Seacrest? Lee Greenwood also called in and said he loved it? Lee also says thank you for the royalty check. Oh, and if Dolly Parton is the mentor this coming week, can we assume country music theme? If so, Kristy just got another free pass. So it was Jason Castro in the bottom 3 along with Syesha and Chikezie, but he was almost instantly sent back to safety. So down to Syesha and Chikezie. Mrs. Mike said Chikezie, and she said it as soon as he was sent to the bottom 3. Well, she has been right for 2 weeks in a row, so no reason to doubt her, and she called it AGAIN. So no more Chikezie on Idol, but I know this guy is going to find a recording niche as a young Luther Vandross type. So now, my power rankings for the remaining nine: 1. David Cook There you go….eight more weeks of Idol, or maybe nine if you include “Idol Gives Back”…remember, last year no one was eliminated on that show. See you next week, I’m going back to watching the NCAA tournament tonight. |
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The ideas for M-A-MySp flow in from many directions. This week, cruising to 7:30 A.M. Easter Mass in the family road barge, the radio was getting scanned for March Madness knowledge and updates. The radio locked on “Steppin’Out Radio,” a show that, if you haven’t listened to it, you should give it a try: For people who have ever found value in a 12-step meeting, it will be like chicken soup; for those who haven’t, well it’s a tragicomic object lesson about what can happen to you if you let your own bad habits get out of hand. It’s a good listen, because the host Drew and his interviewees follow no script, and they don’t take themselves too seriously–i.e. they don’t moralize to you, they just explain how and why they messed up and offer encouragement to listeners in the same boat. Man-About-MySpace has never been to a 12-stepper, but he will never diss “Steppin’ Out.” Easter Sunday must be a big-time soul searching day for people with addictions, as they roll out celebrity guests willing to talk about their history. This week, it was former Utopia, Scandal, Meat Loaf and current New Cars bassist Kasim Sulton, a dude who’s toured with a lot of the “who’s who” of rock. He had one heck of a rock-n-roller-coaster ride, and we’ll leave it at that–listen to the archived broadcast that originally aired last January if you’re really curious. He plugged his MySpace in the interview, natch. After checking it out, it gets high marks: Excellent tuneage polished to a high production sheen, free downloads, video and extensive international tour schedule. He seems to be the rock equivalent of an interior lineman on an NFL team or that field-general catcher who has stone feet and no pop in his bat on a pro baseball team: No glory or even name recognition among average fans, but he’s a superstar among his peers. That’s a perfect “discovery” for MySpace Music. Here’s a little video slice of his composition “One Sure Thing,” performed live:
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Last night’s “American Idol” featured the Top 10 finalists, and with it only being 90 minutes, it’s like Fox handed me change back from a $20 bill. Good stuff. Anyway, the contestants had to sing a song from the year they were born, and most of them really stepped up their game. But it’s also worth mentioning this…..that it had to make most of us feel REALLY OLD seeing years like 1987 and 1990 come up. Anyway, here is the recap… THE REALLY GOOD That sound you just heard was David Cook stamping his ticket to superstardom. He closed out the show last night with a grungy version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” What, you say? Just how far can Mr. Cook push the envelope with his song choices? Well, he saw the ball coming and hit it clear around the world. It was that good, and dare I say one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on the show. I’m getting goose bumps thinking about it. I turned to Mrs. Mike and said, “There is your winner,” and then the judges agreed with me. Randy said “You might be the winner” and used the term “molten hot.” Paula said it was brave and brilliant. And Simon, who rarely uses such words, uttered this one: “Amazing.” This is clearly David’s competition to lose. THE GOOD Syesha Mercado was born in 1987, and sang Stephanie Mills’ “If I Were Your Woman,” and it was, for me, her best performance yet (more…) |
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When the Housemartins bit the dust not long after the release of The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, many a fan of pale white British jangle-pop wept a tear or two. Thankfully, they were able to take solace in the band which rose from the ‘Martin’s ashes: The Beautiful South. Paul Heaton’s voice was still just as heavenly as ever, but the music was more mature, less about the three-minute pop song and more about musical exploration. Their debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, was the perfect introduction to the band’s sound, with epic tracks sitting alongside quick and simple pop numbers, plus a cover of Pebbles’ “Girlfriend” for no discernible reason. I’m not sure when this “Wogan” performance took place, but this song - “I’ll Sail This Ship Alone” - is definitely from the group’s debut. Be sure to hold onto your hat when the song reaches its final line; it’s a doozy.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
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It’s time once again for a look at some of the latest stuff coming out on ye olde CD format this week. Dig it! Bryan Adams has an import album called 11 releasing this week. Apparently it’s another round of tunes recorded in hotels and empty theatres. Why it’s import only, I couldn’t tell ya. The B-52’s are back with Funplex. In case you didn’t know, our own David Medsker reviewed the album over at Bullz-Eye last week, giving it a solid three stars. Counting Crows are also back with Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings. I’ve heard mixed things on the album so far. So in that essence, it seems par for the course. Gnarls Barkley’s The Odd Couple is ready for your purchase. You can check out some sounds on the band’s MySpace page. The Raconteurs’ Consolers of the Lonely is due and new. More info is available at Billboard on this somewhat already controversial release. Panic at the Disco is back with Pretty. Odd. And of course you can groove to it all you like over on the appropriate MySpace space. In case you forgot all about them, The Cardigans are releasing The Best of The Cardigans. It’s another import-only release, so chances are you haven’t thought about them much since “Lovefool” if you live in the States, right? And for some reason, even though they were already all remastered not too long ago (we even reviewed some of ‘em at B-E at the time), The Jesus and Mary Chain’s discography is more or less being regurgitated once again by Rhino. Feel free to check ‘em all out once more over at the band’s product page on Amazon. |
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“A Forest” - live in Amsterdam, 1980.
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…is being released tomorrow. No advance promos, and only a week’s advance buzz before the dropping of a new album entitled Consolers of the Lonely.
If you head over to the band’s website, you’ll be able to read their official announcement about the album, but the key paragraphs are these: The album was mastered and completed in the first week of March. It was then taken immediately to a vinyl pressing plant. Then to a CD pressing plant. Then preparations to sell it digitally began. March 25th became the soonest date to have it available in EVERY FORMAT AT ONCE. The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement. The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding it’s availability, reception or perception. With this release, The Raconteurs are forgoing the usual months of lead time for press and radio set up, as well as forgoing the all important “first week sales.” We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and THEN marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by it’s first week’s sales, pre-release promotion, or by someone defining it FOR YOU before you get to hear it. Y’know, I gotta tell ya, those final thirteen words in the above excerpt were thisclose to being a definitive “you had me, then you lost me” moment for this writer. I admit to a certain amount of excitement for Consolers of the Lonely - I liked the last album, so I’m certainly curious to hear the new record - but thanks to those thirteen words, it’s now quite clear that, for as great a concept as it is to float an album to the masses without a massive advertising campaign and see if it succeeds on its own merits, at least part of the reason for this method is to give Jack White another opportunity to make his favorite blanket statement, “Fuck those assholes in the press.” Despite the fact that the Raconteurs are clearly enjoying the coincidence of timing, let’s be quite clear about this: the quiet-is-the-new-loud method of pre-publicity is almost certainly nothing to do with Maxim’s Black Crowes review fiasco, since the decision to release Consolers via this off-the-radar method would’ve been made long before that controversy reared its head. You may recall that I branded White an asshole just last year after his comments in the NME about how journalists were idiots for believing information that was put in his band’s official press release. All you have to do is just look at those big-ass capital letters in the lines from the press release to know that White put them there; you can imagine him typing them out, then flipping off the computer screen and screaming, “Yeah! That’s right! Fuck you guys!” Okay, fair enough, White’s still got an agenda, but the closing lines of the band’s missive about the album offer a very key sentence that rescues the release methodology for me: “The Raconteurs feel very strongly that music has worth and should be treated as such.” Indeed. Which is why I say that, despite having a complete jackass in their line-up, I’m hoping very strongly that Consolers of the Lonely proves to be a successful experiment for the Raconteurs. Oh, BTW, there’s a nice piece by David Bennun about the album’s imminent release over at The Guardian’s website, where, after acknowledging that “one might even see this as a direct attack on the very existence of music journalism,” he, too, praises the idea in principle…but the best part for me were the final pair of paragraphs: “But let’s not do the Raconteurs down; just because they have the luxury of putting out their album in this fashion, it doesn’t mean they’re obliged to. They have chosen to, and good luck to them. Only a cynic would point out that when a film is released without preview screenings for critics, it’s usually because it’s so dire that it overrides the dictum about no publicity being bad publicity. And only Bill Hicks’s hated notional marketeer would view this as a marketing gimmick in itself: ‘They’re going for that anti-marketing dollar. That’s a good market, they’re very smart.’ “I prefer to think of it as a genuine attempt to preserve the pleasures of the LP in a world where the phrase ‘LP’ is (wrongly, in my view) seen as redundant. As for whether this particular LP is worthy of such a gesture, I have no idea. I haven’t heard it. Of course.“ |
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