Category: Alternative (Page 108 of 155)

Less Talk, More Music: Pet Shop Boys on “Live with Regis and Kelly”

November 20, 2007 / Will Harris

Originally, I’d planned to post the Boys’ 1991 appearance on “The Tonight Show,” when, in mid-performance, Chris Lowe (a.k.a. the one who doesn’t sing) got pissed off about not getting enough camera time and left the stage. Yikes. Tantrum much? Anyway, the performance in question got yanked from YouTube before I could get it onto ESDMusic, so instead I’ve opted to spotlight the guys in a more recent…and more unlikely…appearance.

I’m always impressed with Regis Philbin as a talk show host; whether he really knows what he’s talking about or not, he always has that offhanded casual manner when he’s introducing someone that convinces you that he might actually be a fan of the person he’s getting ready to bring to the stage. Somehow, I suspect the amount of PSB in his CD collection is lacking…though perhaps not as much as it’s lacking from Kelly Ripa’s, since she seems to have no idea that they’ve done anything since “West End Girls”…but neither host’s knowledge (of lack thereof) of the duo affect this lovely piano-driven version of one of the guys’ sweetest and most sentimental songs.

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Songs, Videos

Ruby Tuesday: Simple Minds, “Stranger”

November 20, 2007 / David Medsker

It’s August 2005, and a press release lands in my inbox about an upcoming Simple Minds album, Black & White 050505. I’m rightfully skeptical, since the last album I had bought from the band, the 2001 covers album Neon Lights, was up there (down there?) with Duran Duran’s Thank You as one of the worst covers albums (worst albums?) of all time. But my love for the holy trinity of New Gold Dream, Sparkle in the Rain and Once Upon a Time ruled out, and I requested a copy, hoping against hope that they would not disappoint me yet again.

And holy smokes, was I glad I did. The album is amazing, easily their best work since Once Upon a Time and quite possibly better. Suddenly, I can’t wait for this album to come out so I can set up an interview with Jim Kerr, even though I knew that even if I were able to score such an interview coup, there’d be no way in hell I would be able to translate it. Seriously, have you ever heard him speak? For as crystal-clear as he sings, his speaking voice is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a drowning Scotsman.

Alas, my hopes were dashed when the album was bumped to January of the following year, and when January arrived…it was removed from the schedule altogether. Dude, not cool. To date, the album has yet to grace US shores, and that is nothing short of tragic. Witness today’s Ruby Tuesday selection “Stranger,” which combines the present-day ideas of a couple aging divas (Madonna’s song, Cher’s vocoder) and gives them an old-school Simple Minds once-over. Sha la la la, indeed.

Simple Minds – Stranger.mp3

Alternative, External Music, Rock, Ruby Tuesday, Songs

Road Warriors 40

November 16, 2007 / Mike Farley

Country mega-stars Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood will hit the road together as co-headliners beginning January 31 for 24 shows. The tour is being billed as Love, Pain, & the Whole Crazy Carnival Ride Tour (really now, why do these concert promoters think they have to try and be clever?). Tickets go on sale December 1.

Southern California based indie label Hopeless/Sub City Records is organizing the Take Action Tour, which focuses on raising funds and awareness for non-profit organizations. The seventh annual tour will begin in February and features bands such as Every Time I Die and Escape The Fate. Previous artists on the tour include Avenged Sevenfold, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Jimmy Eat World. For a complete list of dates, please visit www.takeactiontour.com

Matchbox Twenty is touring for the first time in four years, heading out with special guests Alanis Morissette and MuteMath beginning January 25 in Hollywood, Florida in support of their new album, Exile on Mainstream. The stops include a Valentine’s Day engagement at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Here is the complete list of confirmed shows Continue reading »

Alternative, American Idol, Concerts, Country, Pop, Rock

Less Talk, More Music: Midnight Oil on “Thicke of the Night”

November 13, 2007 / Will Harris

I saw Midnight Oil in concert twice before they called it a day – once at the Boathouse, touring behind Diesel and Dust, the other at Norfolk Scope, touring behind Blue Sky Mining (with Hunters and Collectors as their openers!) – but until I saw this clip, I’d somehow managed to forget just how damned disconcerting Peter Garrett was to watch on stage. At that Boathouse show, I stayed way at the back of the venue, mostly because he scared the shit out of me!

By the way, this is officially the first time I’ve ever seen any portion of an episode of Alan Thicke’s short-lived late-night talk show. Wow, he was as cheesy as an ’80s sitcom dad even then; no wonder it was short-lived.

Alternative, Artists, Concerts, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Ruby Tuesday: Bis, “I’m a Slut”

November 13, 2007 / David Medsker

When I first heard Bis, I was pretty sure I hated them. I mean, it was on a tribute album to the Smiths, fer crissakes. What on earth were they doing there?

I still don’t have a good answer to that question. Bis, after all, were the ‘90s equivalent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which means they were the ‘80s equivalent of Berlin and the Human League. Do any of those bands have a single thing in common with the Smiths? No, which is what made their version of “The Boy with a Thorn in His Side” both fascinating and maddening. On the plus side, they gave the song the danceable beat that it begged for all along. On the other hand, they also stripped Johnny Marr’s lovely chord progression out, effectively turning the song into a dub mix. Not what this Smiths fan was looking for.

Fast forward three years, and Bis releases their second album Social Dancing. Somehow, it catches my ear – I’m guessing they landed a track on a CMJ compilation, as I was a subscriber at the time – and I find a promo copy cheap…and in the process discover a song that still pops up on Medsker mix discs. Short, fast, funny and insanely catchy, “I’m a Slut” gleefully pokes fun at gender roles – “Have I done something to upset you / Was my dress a bit too see-through” – but had a Shirley Manson badass-ness to it as well. In a musical climate that was still suffering a hangover from what Alanis Morissette hath wrought, it was a most welcome breath of fresh air.

The band’s 2001 EP, Music from a Stranger World, was even better than Social Dancing, but it wasn’t good enough to stop them from breaking up two years later. Wikipedia says that they recently reunited for a few gigs in England. You have to think that they’re watching this whole ‘80s retro thing and thinking, “WTF?”

Bis – I’m a Slut.mp3

Alternative, External Music, Pop, Rock, Rock Babes, Ruby Tuesday, Songs