Category: Artists (Page 97 of 262)

Buckingham rules! (And the rest of Fleetwood Mac are pretty good, too.)

April 29, 2009 /

If you’re a fan of Fleetwood Mac, then you no doubt got more than a little bit giddy at the tail end of 2008 when the band – still holding strong with the fab foursome of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie – announced that they’d be touring in 2009. Word on the street is that things have been going swimmingly thus far, and the tour will continue to roll on into June; you can check out the current dates rather easily, as they’re right on the homepage of FleetwoodMac.com.

In the meantime, however, if you’re on the fence about whether to go see them or not, take a gander at this clip of Lindsey Buckingham – recorded during a solo performance at Bass Performance Hall, which is available as a CD/DVD combo – as he takes “Big Love” and either makes you wish you could play guitar or makes you never want to pick one up again because you’ll never, ever be able to play it as well as he can.

Artists, Concert CDs, Concert DVDs, Concerts, External Music, News, Videos

Manchester Orchestra: Back With A Vengeance

April 29, 2009 /

Manchester Orchestra

April 21 marked the release of the second LP from Atlanta, Georgia rockers Manchester Orchestra. After four previous releases, Mean Everything to Nothing is a breath of fresh indie-rock air thanks much in part to producer Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins, The Raconteurs, My Morning Jacket).
In place of their usual brand of mellow indie-pop, Manchester Orchestra has compiled a cohesive collection of tunes that echo the likes of Nirvana and Weezer. There’s a new grunge twist on Nothing unlike any of the band’s previous releases. It’s the perfect addition to the Manchester Orchestra catalog, and has the potential to be the band’s most commercial success. The Boston Globe talked about the album’s strong points saying,

“[Mean Everything to Nothing] is like a sonic form of whiplash: lullaby-like intros progress into fist-pumping choruses, pensive piano arrangements are followed by gritty guitar riffs, and front man Andy Hull’s vocals shift from folksy Conor Oberst-like warbling on power ballads (“I Can Feel a Hot One”) to breathless emo-wailing on anthems like “I’ve Got Friends.”

There’s really nothing to criticize about Nothing. The substance is there, more so even than the majority of Top 40 releases dominating the radio. The growth that’s evident on Nothing successfully bridges the gap between Manchester Orchestra’s early years, and the bright future they are sure to have thanks to the transformation. Bottom line, Mean Everything to Nothing is what indie-rock should sound like today so have a listen. You can even preview tracks on Manchester Orchestra’s MySpace here.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Emo, Pop, Rock

Billy Bob Thornton’s uncomfortable interview

April 14, 2009 /

…and “uncomfortable” is an understatement.

By now you may have heard about Thornton’s interview (along with his band, The Boxmasters) with a Canada’s QTV where he takes exception to the host mentioning his acting career in the introduction. If you watch Thornton during the intro, you can see him shake his head a couple of times. For the first six or seven minutes of the interview, Thornton acts like a petulant child, giving short, ambiguous answers to direct questions. Then he goes off on a tangent talking about a monster magazine contest that he entered as a kid. Finally, around the seven-minute mark, he tells the host why he’s acting the way he is.

Thornton keeps asking the host, “Would you ask Tom Petty that?” The thing is — Billy Bob Thornton is no Tom Petty. Thornton is best-known as an actor who sees himself as a musician. Tom Petty is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I feel for the host — he simply introduced Thornton and the rest of the band, and has to deal with pissy Billy Bob for the rest of the interview. He didn’t ask him any questions about his acting career and it’s completely understandable why he would mention Thornton’s history as an actor in the intro to give the interview context. It would be really odd if he just started the interview without mentioning it at all.

Thornton later says that Canadian audiences are like “mashed potatoes with no gravy” and canceled their two remaining Canadian shows after being booed in Toronto.

Artists, External Music, News, Radio, Videos

Seen Your Video: Courtenay Green, “Beyond Therapy”

April 8, 2009 /

We’ll be honest: we’re not posting the clip for “Beyond Therapy,” the debut single from Los Angeles song bird Courtenay Green, because it’s a knockout song. The song is cute enough – though it doesn’t bear even a passing resemblance to the Hollies or New Pornographers, two bands to whom she’s compared in her press release – and Green is quite the fetching lass. Nope, we’re posting the clip for “Beyond Therapy” because the video is awesome, a throwback of sorts to early ’80s clips.

In fact, it’s rather fitting that she made a throwback clip for the song, because the song itself is a the kind of song that would have stood a much better chance of climbing the charts in 1981 than it will today. Green has good pitch, and she’s not flashy (thank God for that, as we have more than enough of those kinds of singers as it is), but her voice sounds wafer-thin compared to the girls currently dominating the charts. Not her fault, of course, but it’s definitely going to pose problems for her, which is why she was very smart to make a clip that will endear her to Gen X music lovers. We see Green singing the song in one of those karaoke bars where the songs have their own videos – not sure if anyone does these anymore, but they were all the rage in the early ’90s – and the video within this video is dead perfect. Star wipe, diamond wipe, heart wipe…yes.

Props to Green for playing to her strengths. Who knows, maybe we’ll eat the words above about her commercial prospects. Wouldn’t be the first time, and we would have no problem getting this one wrong.

Artists, Pop, Rock Babes, Seen Your Video, Videos

Steal This Song: Just Jinjer, “Can I Have More”

April 4, 2009 /

Haaaaaaave you met Just Jinjer?

Here’s the official word on the band from their MySpace page: “Hailing from South Africa, contemporary rock outfit Just Jinjer is fiercely blazing a trail on the international radio and online download charts. The California based band comprised of Ard Mattews (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar), Brent Harris (Drums, Vocals), Denholm Harding (Bass, Vocals), and Sandy Chila (Guitar, Keyboards) is launching their first US tour in 2009. Just Jinjer is the biggest selling rock band in South African history, with over a quarter million units sold. Over the last decade, the band has performed and toured with U2, Counting Crows and Def Leppard among many others, performing for hundreds of thousands of fans in venues all around the world from the UK to Dubai.”

Intrigued? What luck, then, that we’ve been gifted a free MP3 from the band that we’re passing on to you:

Just Jinger, “Can I Have More”

If you like what you hear, head over to the band’s MySpace page to check out a few more tracks, and be aware that the band’s EP for “Can I Have More” – which features two additional songs, including the highly enjoyable “Time of Your Life” – is available through iTunes on April 7th.

Artists, External Music, Songs

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