Category: Pop (Page 70 of 216)

Dare to Dream…to meet Gavin Rossdale

September 15, 2009 /

In the wake of Patrick Swayze’s passing, we have a sudden urge to post something that will, you know, actually do some good, so when we heard about an upcoming concert at Chicago’s House of Blues featuring Gavin Rossdale that will go to benefit the Lukemia & Lymphoma Society, we said hell, yes.

Come on, are you really going to say ‘no’ to that face? Gwen Stefani doesn’t even say ‘no’ to that face.

Here’s the deal: it’s called Dare 2 Dream: A Special Evening with Gavin Rossdale, it takes place November 5, and it will feature a silent auction where bidders are vying for the opportunity to meet Cheekbones McLadykiller himself – if that sounds like we’re poking fun at him, rest assured we’re not, especially not after Rossdale charmed the daylights out of us in an interview last year – where every $5 donated is worth an entry into the grand prize drawing. They are even hosting a contest for bands to determine who gets to open for Rossdale that night, so keep your eyes peeled on SonicBids for more info on that.

Tickets went on sale this past weekend, so if you’re interested in attending, we suggest you get yer tix now. We’ve been to several shows at the Chicago House of Blues, and they invariably sell out. And make sure you cheer for Gavin’s new stuff. It’s better than you think.

For more information about Dare 2 Dream: A Special Evening with Gavin Rossdale, click here.

Alternative, Artists, Concerts, Pop, Rock

Muse: The Resistance

September 15, 2009 /

Muse has always been careful to balance their lyrical paranoia with a vast arsenal of sonic weaponry, turning the negativity of songs like “Map of the Problematique” and “Stockholm Syndrome” into lighter-waving anthems for the dance floor or the mosh pit. They came close to tipping the balance on 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations – surprise, singer and lyricist Matthew Bellamy was angry about the Iraq War – but fortunately for them they had cooked up their best batch of songs to go with those anti-war tirades and ‘die with your boots on’ battle cries. The album became the band’s first US Top Ten hit and vaulted the British trio into the rock’s upper echelon. If you need more proof of the band’s growing status among rock aficionados, look no further than the inclusion of Bellamy as an unlockable guitarist in “Guitar Hero 5.”

After a hellacious tour schedule – which produced the stopgap live album H.A.A.R.P. – the band finally settled down long enough to enter the studio and prepare for the follow-up album. It was here that they decided to do what no prog band should ever be allowed to do: produce the album themselves. Any band as musically gifted as Muse needs an outside voice of reason, someone to rein them in when they’re tempted to go even more over the top than they already go. More importantly, the band could have used someone to tell them that they’re repeating themselves far too frequently. Granted, the main musical thrust behind The Resistance may be unique in that this album is more symphonic than their previous efforts, but several of these songs echo the band’s earlier work, sometimes lazily so.

Take leadoff track and first single “Uprising,” for example. This is “Knights of Cydonia” crossed with the original theme for “Doctor Who,” with its chorus lines “They will not control us, we will be victorious” a near-identical photocopy of “You and I must fight for our rights, you and I must fight to survive.” Even the keyboard riff that appears in the “Cydonia” vocal break is repeated here. “Guiding Light,” meanwhile is “Invincible” – which itself stole giant chunks of Keane’s “Everybody’s Changing” – crossed with Ultravox’s “Vienna,” and the second section in the three-part “Exogenesis” symphony, “Cross Pollination,” begins with a rehash of Bellamy’s piano break from the Absolution track “Butterflies and Hurricanes.” This isn’t the first time the band was guilty of borrowing an idea from an earlier song, but it is the first time they’ve been so obvious about it.

The album’s best moments are when the band ventures the farthest outside of their comfort zone. “Undisclosed Desires” features pizzicato strings and equally plucky bass work from Chris Wolstenholme, and is a nice slice of mid-tempo pop complete with simple, machine-like drum work from Dominic Howard. The biggest surprise, though, is “I Belong To You (+Mon Coeur S’ouvre A Ta Voix),” a bouncy, piano-driven number that will have Rufus Wainwright seething with jealousy. As lovely as that song is, though, did it really need a two-and-a-half-minute interlude? This is where the presence of former producer Rich Costey, or anyone for that matter, would have come in handy; Muse loses focus far too often, indulging in whatever musical detour presents itself. The none-more-Queen “United States of Eurasia” suffers from this as well, ending a Middle Eastern-tinged stomper with a lilting, two-minute piano solo. It’s pretty, but does it belong?

The Resistance has some undeniably beautiful moments – “Exogenesis: Symphony Part I – The Overture,” for one, is heartbreaking – but is in dire need of some nips and tucks. The decision to put the guitars away in favor of strings and keys is to be commended in today’s “Rock Band” world (you heard it here first: expect a lot of bands to begin overplaying in order to guarantee inclusion in future installments of “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero”), but a little streamlining would have done a world of good. (Warner Bros. 2009)

Muse MySpace page

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock

Rob Blackledge: Inside These Walls

September 11, 2009 /

Mississippi-raised and Nashville-based Rob Blackledge was torn between pursuing a career in baseball or in music. But his love of music was affirmed after he decided to attend Belmont University in Nashville, a music industry hub, when Blackledge won a talent contest and had a positive crowd reaction leave him wanting more of that artist/audience connection that can be magical when it’s right. Blackledge honed his craft while touring with Nashville favorite son Dave Barnes, co-wrote country act Love and Theft’s “Runaway,” then later signed with One Revolution Entertainment. Now Blackledge has his own debut album, Inside These Walls, and his wide range of influences are all there for the world to see – James Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder and Ben Folds among them. That may seem crazy, but it’s not – Blackledge is accomplished on both piano and guitar, his melodies soar with his falsetto (which he wisely does not overuse), and everything is tied together nicely by producer Jeff Coplan. Among a solid set of songs, the best ones are the hummable “Early Morning Riser,” the radio-ready “Should Have Known Better,” and the understated R&B-infused beauty, “Worth Taking” – the latter of which could be a huge Top 40 hit in the right hands. (One Revolution Entertainment 2009)

Rob Blackledge MySpace page

Adult Contemporary, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Kevin Hearn and Thinbuckle: Havana Winter

September 11, 2009 /

Let’s face it – solo albums can be a mixed bag. On the one hand, they’re often an outgrowth of un-served creative expression and an opportunity to reveal a side of the musician that’s otherwise buried in the group mix. On the other, they can also be nothing more than an indulgence in excess, an artistic statement so far removed from the mainstream that only the most diehard fan or hardcore eccentric would dare dally in the overflow. Fortunately, keyboardist Kevin Hearn’s individual offerings fall in the former category, and after five albums that offer some respite from his day job with Barenaked Ladies, he’s managed to carve himself a pleasant little side niche. There’s little of the Ladies’ kookiness or quirkiness to be found here, although the lead-off track, “Coma,” does come close (“It’s time to come out of your coma”). Mostly though, Havana Winter is a fairly sunny – and sedate –affair, one that manages to conjure up the same sort of giddy effusiveness often identified with groups like the Lilac Time, the Lightning Seeds, and others of that more melodic ilk. The cooing caress of “On the Runway” and “Luna” provide an irresistibly engaging ambiance that makes return listens practically mandatory, while the rollicking “Huntsville, CA” picks up the pace and applies a certain perky proviso with it. If there is any complaint to be made, it’s that with only seven songs, Hearn is skimping on quantity even though he’s clearly over-delivering in quality. Regardless, Havana Winter is a wonderful revelation and one that suggests Hearn ought to be heard from a lot more. (Six Shooter Records 2009)

Kevin Hearn MySpace page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock, Widescreen

Marshall Crenshaw talks about Jerry Boys, working for Disney, and his love for the lost art of making records

September 7, 2009 /

Talking with Marshall Crenshaw is like being invited to the rock ‘n roll grown-up table. After minding your manners at the kid’s table for years, you finally get the chance to show your elders how much you’ve learned about music…only to realize just how little you know. The man is an encyclopedia of rock, which makes sense when you consider that he played John Lennon on the stage, Buddy Holly in the movies, and wrote the instructions for fictional rocker Dewey Cox on how to walk hard. On the eve of a series of shows on both sides of the pond in support of his new album Jaggedland, Crenshaw spoke with Bullz-Eye about how he never wanted to be an arena guy, and offers his two cents on some of the cover versions of his songs. He also explained why he inadvertently terrified his interviewer at a concert six years ago, but that story is off the record.

BE: I would just like to state that there should be a law that forbids you from taking six years between albums.

MC: I know, it’s funny, isn’t it? But that’s how long it took, I guess. My friend Don Dixon said everybody should do a record every four years, and no sooner than that. I don’t know where he got that from, but I guess that’s just what his body clock tells him. Anyway, yeah, I know, six years is a long time. But it was worth it, you know? It was worth taking the extra time and the extra care, I think.

BE: I read that it was Jerry Boys’ work on the Ry Cooder album that attracted you, but I’m sure it didn’t hurt that he also recorded the Beatles.

MC: You know what? I found that out fast, because I have that book, there is a book called “The Beatles Recording Sessions.” When it came out I just read it and read it and read it, like it was the Bible. So I had seen his name in there but I didn’t make the connection when I bought Mambo Sinuendo, and just proceeded to fall in love with it. Then I went on to his website and I went, “Oh yeah, right.” But that’s only just the beginning of the story with him. I mean, God, you’ve got to really give it up for guys who are…you know, just have that deep of a well of experience and have done that much really high-quality work.

BE: Did you ever have designs of making an Imperial Bedroom-type record with a Geoff Emerick or an Alan Parsons?

MC: No, none of those guys ever crossed my mind. I mean, with all due respect, and so on and so forth. And again, the record that really made me think of Jerry Boys is a record where everybody just sat in the room and played at the same time, you know, Mambo Sinuendo. There are some tracks that are really heavily crafted and edited and stuff like that, but mostly it’s just guys in a room, and the sound of the room. That was what I dug about that record.

BE: Have you ever reached a point where you thought to yourself, “Screw the solo career, I’m going to write songs for Disney artists,” or “I’m going to write songs for up and coming country singers”?

MC: Yeah, I have. Sure, of course. I mean, I have even done the first one. I did a project for Disney Television Animation. I worked on it for about half a year, wrote about a half-dozen songs for an animated sequel to “101 Dalmatians.” It’s been sort of an oddball, patchwork sort of a résumé with me, really. The main thing is my records and my songs, that’s really what it’s about. But I’ve taken lots of side trips. I was in “La Bamba.” One of my songs right now, “You’re My Favorite Waste of Time,” is in a breakfast cereal commercial in Europe.

BE: That makes sense, since it was a big hit for Owen Paul in the UK.

MC: Yeah, you know about that.

BE: Yes. And I just recently heard Bette Midler’s cover of the song, which I can’t say I share the same enthusiasm for.

MC: I was delighted when she recorded it…anyway, what was I saying? Oh, the Nashville thing. Yeah, I had a publisher and a good friend who used to constantly encourage me to go to Nashville. And I did try it, I went there and dabbled in it a little bit, I just could never get that motivated, you know? For better or for worse, the thing I really love is record-making. I just think it’s a great art form. When it comes to the idea of making a record and creating a body of songs for a record, that’s when I really get motivated, you know? But the Nashville thing just sort of never felt like the right direction for me.

To read the rest of Bullz-Eye’s interview with Marshall Crenshaw, click here.

Artists, Interviews, Pop, Rock

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