Author: Dr. Flucke (Page 6 of 7)

I first met Johnny Lingo off a Craigslist ad. No, not that kind of Craigslist ad: I bought a great vintage Wurlitzer 200A (think Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say”) keyboard from him, which I picked up at a Providence, RI recording studio where he was hanging out.

Lingo took me around the studio and graciously demo’d all the wild and fantastic keyboards there (they had a goshdarned Mellotron!) and gave me an EP of his former band, the Lingo. They’d built some regional notoriety playing upbeat, harmonious pop–including a funny little tune about how Johnny likes your friends better than you.

Now, the keyboardist’s struck out on his own, and released an album earlier this year. Driven by the same pop ethos, Lingo influences include 1970s disco (see “Step Outside”) and 1980s alterna-pop (“Fallen Angel”), but for the most part it’s a noveau mixing of a lot of stuff. Frenetic and melodious–and a good listen.

While we don’t ever like to make blanket statements that cast Billy Joel in a positive light, one thing he sang rings true: You can’t get the sound from a story in a magazine (or a blog) so don’t take our word for it: Sample four cuts on his MySpace, and if you like it, pony up the five bucks for a download.

Peter Hook—or “Hooky” as he’s known by dear fans—ye olde ancient bassist for New Order (or as of late last spring, shall we say the “defunct New Order”) has been annoying old fans with a dispute over who gets to use the band name. Or more to the point, if his old mates can use the name after Hooky picked up his bass and decided to go play in another sandbox. Ho-hum.

Hooky’s a lot better off playing his bass and spearheading musical groups than he is with the social grace, apparently, because his new project, Freebass, is absolutely awesome. And where can you sneak a listen to the preview cut “I Envy Us?” His MySpace, natch, the same online outlet where he also threatened to sue the other New Order members if they continued on without him and kept the band name (yet also says at his MySpace that he’s “open to negotiation,” whatever that means).

The shy boy? Or the coy boy?
We love you either way.

At any rate, the core members of Freebass comprise Hook, ex-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke and ex-Stone Roses/Primal Scream bassist Mani. Get the name? Freebass. Caution: If you think it’s cool, don’t even try copping the name, because one would guess his attorneys are watching for that sort of thing.

Lead vocalists allegedly in the running include Charlatans’ Tim Burgess and the Stone Roses’ Ian Brown, says Pitchfork. Add that to an awesome post-Madchester garage-pop Big Beat retro sound, and at least on paper it looks pretty freakin’ awesome.