Category: Artists (Page 202 of 262)

Who needs the money?

July 14, 2006 / Captain Capm

Jesus, say it ain’t so. Yep, it is. Dammit! The Who are ready to tour again, people. That’s right, The Two are ready to tour again. Why? It just seems completely wayyyyyyyy beside the point (and really, that breaking point occurred during the live recordings of Who’s Last) by this time. Please, please, people. Don’t go wasting your money on this tour. Don’t go to just say “I saw The Who live!” when you really didn’t at all.

Now, I’m going to sit here and proudly say that my fave Who album all around is Face Dances, the first of two final studio albums released by the band featuring Kenney Jones on drums after Keith Moon managed to finally top himself. I love the album, and I’m glad the band stayed together to record it (I can’t say the same for its follow up It’s Hard, however). But is it me, or does it seem like Led Zeppelin got it right all those years ago by just shutting down permanently after John Bonham died? OK granted, you had the whole Page/Plant thing briefly (and God knows it was better than the ill-advised Coverdale-Page travesty), but the point is Zep is still looked upon fondly with mucho respect given the fact that they didn’t keep going. Or worse, keep going, then “quit”, then return again, then “quit”, and so on.

Roger can’t possibly need the money. Not after doing those fabulous late-night infomercials for various artist CD hit collections.

Artists, News

Dave Adams, “Tears”

July 13, 2006 / Will Harris

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s gone through a cut-out bin or sale bin in the past and bought an album simply because A) it was cheap, and B) it looked like it would sound good.

I know, there’s no sense to that, really, but sometimes an album cover just has a cool look about it, and, as a result, it leads to suspect that if it looks cool, then there’s at least a halfway decent chance that it sounds cool. And then, when you consider that you haven’t actually heard of the artist before makes you wonder, “Have I discovered some heretofore-unappreciated gem…?”

Enter Dave Adams.

I’d never heard of the guy before, but to be painfully honest, I bought his cassette because the picture of him on the cover made him look like Feargal Sharkey (late of the Undertones)…and I thought, “Well, I like Feargal Sharkey.” And, for 99 cents, I rationalized that the mere fact that he LOOKED like someone whose music I liked was enough to make it a worthwhile purchase.

So I bought it, opened it, popped it into the cassette player…and heard “Tears.”

For my money, it’s one of the greatest lost ’80s pop songs of all time. See what you think; it’s only a two-minute clip, but it spotlights both the verse and chorus, and that’s more than enough to get the gist.

Artists, Pop, Songs

Joy! The Ian Curtis bio-pic has begun shooting!

July 13, 2006 / Will Harris

Ian Curtis, lead singer of seminal British band Joy Division, hung himself on the eve of the band’s first American tour, and, as history records, his bandmates went on to form New Order and live happily ever after (even if poor old Ian didn’t).

Now, however, the life of Curtis is coming to the silver screen – entitled “Control” – and what better person to create a dark mood than famed photographer / Depeche Mode video director Anton Corbijn? (Indeed, he’s the photographer of the above shot.) “If I only ever make one movie,” said Corbijn in a press release, “‘Control’ would have to be that. I simply feel that as Joy Division and Ian Curtis played a big part in my life, I cannot think of a better combination of subject and director.”

The film is based upon and expands on the 1995 book Touching From a Distance written by Curtis’ widow, Deborah, as a personal account of her life with the singer; she serves as a co-producer on the film as well, along with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. Matt Greenhalgh wrote the script for “Control,” talking to those closest to Curtis, including Honore, who previously remained silent on her relationship with him. Ian will be played by Sam Riley, who has some experience playing alternative rock legends; he portrayed Fall frontman Mark E. Smith in “24 Hour Party People.”

Alternative, Artists, External Music, News

Bob Marley: “Time Will Tell”

July 12, 2006 / John Paulsen

Many casual fans of Bob Marley know exactly 14 of his songs – that was the number of tracks on his multi-platinum greatest hits compilation, Legend. Left off that disc, “Time Will Tell” features a great bass line that will have your head swaying in no time. It was later covered by the Black Crowes on Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, with mixed results.

Listen to a clip of Marley’s version here, and the Crowes’ version here.

Artists, Deep Cuts, External Music, Songs

The Madcap laughs no more.

July 11, 2006 / Will Harris

Syd Barrett, original lead singer of Pink Floyd and inspiration to dozens – maybe even hundreds – of British eccentrics dreaming of being pop musicians, has died.

Barrett, who had retired from music in the early ’70s and lived an anonymous life in his home town of Cambridge, had suffered from diabetes for many years. His work on Pink Floyd’s debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, remains a touchstone for British psychedelia, and his solo albums – The Madcap Laughs, Barrett, and rarities/outtakes collection Opel – are sadly brilliant (if occasionally shambling) documents of a man who spent the late ’60s and early ’70s on the brink of madness, occasionally teetered onto the wrong side of dementia. His fellow members of Pink Floyd never forgot their founder; in addition to being paid tribute to in many of the band’s songs, most famously in “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (but almost certainly on “Brain Damage” as well), David Gilmour made a point of including Barrett’s “Astronomy Domine” on the group’s mid-’90s live album, Pulse.

Farewell, Syd. On “Dark Globe,” you posed the questions, “Won’t you miss me? Wouldn’t you miss me at all?” The answer is utterly unqualified: yes, we will.

A brief discography of Barrett follows after the jump.

Artists, External Music, News, Rock