Author: David Medsker (Page 51 of 96)

Keane Curate a Night for War Child

November 4, 2008 /

Recorded last fall, Keane assembled a handful of friends to raise money for War Child, a charity dedicated to the welfare of Iraqi children. The list of bands on the bill is an odd one, beginning with Teddy Thompson, Findlay Brown and erstwhile Raconteur Brendan Benson before going to more Keane-ish bands like the Pet Shop Boys and Lily Allen. The set lists are tiny – no one but Keane plays more than two songs, and the Magic Numbers only play one – and Keane only plays four, not including the part where they back up Allen. The performances are good and the piece is judiciously edited so the next song comes soon after the previous one. But one can’t help but wonder what songs were played that night that didn’t make the cut; Keane, for example, played “Is It Any Wonder?,” one of their biggest hits, but it did not make the DVD. It feels like bad karma to kick around a charity DVD, but this set, while entertaining, feels incomplete. (Eagle Vision)

Click here to buy Keane Curate a Night for War Child

Artists, DVD Quicktakes, External Music, Pop

Steal This Song: Keane – “The Lovers Are Losing (CSS Remix Edit)”

October 28, 2008 /

As if Keane wasn’t wearing their I Love the ’80s influences on their sleeves for their newest album, Perfect Symmetry, remix troupe CSS plays that angle up even further on their remix to the album’s second single, “The Lovers Are Losing.” Man, check out that fat keyboard sound. Is that from a DeBarge track, or the song that Lambda Lambda Lambda performs during Greek Week in “Revenge of the Nerds”? Either way, it’s a side to Keane that we have not seen before. We were beginning to wonder how long the band could churn out those devastating ballads before the urge to dance set in.

Ah, but don’t just take our word for it; Keane has offered us this song for you, dear reader, to download for free. So take it out for a spin, and shake that bootay.

Keane – The Lovers Are Losing (CSS Remix Edit)

Alternative, Artists, Downloads, External Music, Pop, Steal This Song

You heard it here first: Guns ‘n Roses, “Chinese Democracy”

October 22, 2008 /

Here it is, kids: the long-awaited, oft-delayed title track to Guns ‘n Roses’ Chinese Democracy, which finally has a release date of November 23. Of this year. No, seriously.

So how it it? Um, well, it’s…interesting.

Interesting. That’s the biggest cop-out adjective in a music writer’s arsenal. And yet, that’s as positive a word as I can come up with upon first listen. I feel the same way about this as I did when I first heard “You Could Be Mine,” the first single released from the Use Your Illusion albums. It reminds me of long-buried ’90s bands like Monster Magnet, and the guitar solo…doesn’t Tom Morello have patent pending on that stuff?

There was once a time where I was dying to hear what mad scientist Axl had been cooking up in his lab. Those days came and went roughly ten years ago. Now it’s on the level of cautiously optimistic. You know there’s a “November Rain” sitting in there somewhere. There has to be…right?

Artists, External Music, News, Rock, Songs

Classic Albums: Duran Duran, Rio

October 20, 2008 /

Man, do we love this series. Eagle gets away from their classic rock leanings and brings in four of the Fab Five – Andy Taylor, having left the band once again, does not participate – to dissect Duran Duran’s 1982 worldwide breakthrough album Rio, and while it doesn’t contain any of the bizarro production stories that were revealed in the episode dedicated to Def Leppard’s Hysteria, it is still a very entertaining and informative analysis of one of the biggest albums of the ‘80s. Nick Rhodes describes the origins of the opening sound on the album’s title track, and talks about how he remodeled “The Chauffeur” into an electronic track from its origins as an acoustic number. They even recruited David Kershenbaum to talk about remixing several Rio tracks to make them more “American” (smart move, that). John Taylor pulls out his bass and plays a few riffs, and reveals that he had to switch from his fingers to a pick and back on “Hold Back the Rain.” Russell Mulcahy is on hand to talk about the videos he shot in Sri Lanka (three videos in three days, yikes), and Bob Geldof is on hand to rave about the record, too. It’s a fine addition to an excellent series. May we suggest ABC’s The Lexicon of Love as a future candidate? (Eagle Vision)

Click to buy Classic Albums: Duran Duran, Rio

DVD Quicktakes, External Music, Pop, Rock

Seen Your Video: Natalia, “Perfect Day”

October 14, 2008 /

I’m going to be honest, and the publicist will hate me for this, but I have to do it: “Perfect Day,” the debut singer by UK pop/R&B starlet Natalia, does nothing for me. It’s a nice sentiment, but a bit moon-eyed in its optimism for my tastes (which of course makes it ideal for its intended teen audience, but that’s another discussion). The video is even sillier. Having said that, and at the risk of being labeled the perviest perv in all of Pervville, look at her. She’s flat-out gorgeous, and rocks that mock turtleneck like no other. Most of today’s popsters come with the powerful voice and the over-produced music, but are completely lacking a unique look or personality. Natalia may not have the tunes yet – one of the songs on her MySpace page uses a huge chunk of Adam and the Ants’ “Prince Charming,” which sounds cooler on paper than in execution – but hot damn, does she have the voice, and she’s got the look. What in the world can make a brown-eyed girl turn blue, etc.

Natalia was gracious enough to shoot a personalized intro for Bullz-Eye’s readers, and lets rip with a little singing to show that she’s not some auto-tune charity case. Good news indeed, but we’re curious to see what she would do if she had Mark Ronson in her corner. Just a thought when it comes time to make album number two, my dear.

Artists, Pop, R&B, Rock Babes, Seen Your Video, Videos

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 Eat Sleep Drink Music

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑