Category: News (Page 78 of 136)

Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim…

July 15, 2006 / Will Harris

…and Rivers gotta get the hell outta Weezer.

Okay, it’s not like he’s making a mad dash for the exit or anything, but in an interview with MTV, River Cuomo – the frontman and songwriter behind Weezer – said there’s been no discussion about the band returning to the studio “Really, for the moment, we are done,” he said. “And I’m not certain we’ll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one.”

Perhaps it’s for the best. 2005’s Make Believe was alright – in particular, “This Is Such A Pity” made my list of Best Songs of the Year – but it was ultimately underwhelming and in no way the stick-to-your-ribs kind of tastiness the band provided with their self-titled “Green” and “Blue” albums. A rest might do Cuomo’s songwriting some good.

Alternative, Artists, News, Rock

lala revisited

July 14, 2006 / Captain Capm

Our own Happy Goth previously posted on the greatness that is lala, inciting me to join up, but I’d like to add to that original post here stressing what a great site it really is.

If you don’t know, lala is a web site where music fans trade their unwanted CDs with each other. The kicker is that the brilliant guys who created the site are setting aside 20% from all trades to go back directly to the artists. There have been some changes since the site was first mentioned here, though. Originally, you got to trade CDs for one dollar, plus 49 cents shipping and handling. However, it was decided that since a number of users wanted the artwork included with their trades (it’s always been optional), the 63 cent pre-paid postage envelopes that you got to send your trades in wasn’t covering the extra costs of sending all the artwork. So the community on the site voted, and now shipping has gone to a flat 75 cents, which easily covers everything now. Since I basically just automatically rip any new CDs that come my way onto my external drive and then pick faves to put on my ipod, I couldn’t care less about the artwork. So far it’s been about 50/50 receiving discs with and without artwork. And if you’re really a stickler and must have it, you can now set that up in your user preferences so traders will know to send you the artwork with the discs.

Since I joined last month, I’ve traded CDs I no longer wanted, or duplicates of discs I liked but didn’t need extras of, or crappy CDs I’ve reviewed at Bullz-Eye, and have received lots of great stuff in return. I’m talking about CDs you’d easily pay over 5 bucks for at any used store or even online at Amazon or Spun.com, or where ever. It’s the best deal going in town, folks. And those harder to get CDs you might not even find at Amazon used? Sometimes you might even get one of those. I can say I’ve been nothing but thrilled with the service. It’s a highly addictive thing once you start going on it, and I have to say the community of users there is actually fun to join in with on the message boards. It’s not a bunch of bratty kids or assholes. Mostly, it’s just a bunch of music loving people like you and me who are amazed that such a site finally came along. So if you haven’t joined yet, give lala a look see and sign up. There’s gold in them thar hills.

News

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

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

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