Category: Videos (Page 29 of 96)

Miles Davis recorded a lot of records

Apparently, the “Prince of Darkness” recorded 52 albums, and that was just for Columbia Records! Dude also made other albums for Prestige, Blue Note, and Warner Bros. Records. Nevertheless, the Columbia years were his creative peak. During that time, Davis released Kind of Blues and Bitches Brew, which not only classics of the jazz genre, but American music as a whole. On November 10th, Columbia and Legacy will release a ridiculous 71-disc box set entitled The Complete Columbia Album Collection. This Sisyphian task is guaranteed to consume at least a year of your life. To buy this, you must really love jazz — that goes without saying. Unfortunately, if you buy this set, with the innocent intention of listening to the entire thing, you must admit to yourself that you find Miles Davis more enticing than, say, earning a living.

The box will include (seriously) 70 CDs and one DVD, and somehow it’s that one DVD that makes the whole thing look like overkill.

The DVD is Live in Europe ’67, which will be on DVD for the first time ever with this set. The set will also include a previously unreleased live recording of Davis’s performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

According to Legacy, the CDs will all come in “Japanese-styled mini LP jackets”, which sounds cool. The CDs will include bonus tracks that have been tacked on to Davis reissues over the years. There will also be a 250-page book.

Have at it if you must.

New details on “The Beatles: Rock Band”

Rock Band

For the record, I suck at video games. I suck at them for the same reasons I suck at golf. I’m not patient, and if I don’t see myself being the best at a hobby in the imminent future, I’ll abandon it. As someone who’s been playing music since the age of 12, I hated Guitar Hero and Rock Band from the get-go. Playing the guitar was way too difficult as I couldn’t coordinate pressing buttons on my fretting hand with flipping a toggle switch with my strumming hand. I was most content on drums simply because it’s fun to hit things. Nevertheless, after seeing some footage and scoping out the game’s track list, I might have to force a friend to buy The Beatles: Rock Band.

How cool is this? You can perform “Twist and Shout” in Liverpool, “Can’t Buy Me Love” on the Ed Sullivan Show, even “Eight Days a Week” at Shea Stadium. The detail is amazing and spot on as it matches their style of dress, the imagery, and the venues they played specific to an era. Apparently, the game will include unreleased banter from the Beatles’ recording sessions.

In addition to the new trailer, the full video for “Ticket to Ride” as performed by the in-game Beatles at the digital Shea Stadium has also been posted on the game’s official Website. As Rock Daily reported last week, The Beatles: Rock Band will also unearth previously unreleased audio and studio banter from the Beatles, as well as a “story mode” that gives the back-story of the band’s songs. The Beatles: Rock Band will be released September 9th, the same day the Fab Four’s entire remastered catalog is reissued.

As per the the video game blog Worth Playing, a track listing has surfaced. Harmonix and MTV Games have since confirmed that the 44 songs listed after the jump are accurate. However, one more song will be included that neither source is revealing.

Singles:
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Day Tripper”
“Paperback Writer”
“Revolution”
“Don’t Let Me Down”

Please Please Me:
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“Boys”
“Do You Want To Know A Secret”
“Twist and Shout”

With the Beatles:
“I Wanna Be Your Man”

A Hard Day’s Night:
“A Hard Day’s Night”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”

Beatles For Sale:
“Eight Days a Week”

Help!:
“Ticket To Ride”

Rubber Soul:
“Drive My Car”
“I’m Looking Through You”
“If I Needed Someone”

Revolver:
“Taxman”
“Yellow Submarine”
“And Your Bird Can Sing”

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band:
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends”
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”
“Getting Better”
“Good Morning Good Morning”

Magical Mystery Tour:
“I Am The Walrus”
“Hello Goodbye”

The Beatles (White Album):
“Dear Prudence”
“Back In the U.S.S.R.”
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps”
“Birthday”
“Helter Skelter”

Yellow Submarine:
“Hey Bulldog”

Abbey Road:
“Come Together”
“Something”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
“Here Comes the Sun”

Let It Be:
“Dig a Pony”
“I Me Mine”
“I Got a Feeling”
“Get Back”

Love:
“Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows”

I would have left off the Love mash-up since the Beatles never performed it in their career. Not that the Love album isn’t cool, but the whole purpose of the game is to play as the Beatles, not to a recording that was made years after they broke up. Nevertheless, I think most Beatles purists — albeit the younger ones who are likely buying this game — can all agree that this is pretty solid track list. But where’s “Please Please Me,” their first hit single? And “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl”? What, no “Strawberry Fields Forever”? OK, I’ll stop.

New Built to Spill and Weezer albums get titles and release dates

Weezer

Hell yes. In undoubtedly awesome news, Built to Spill will be releasing their new album, There Is No Enemy, on October 6. In possibly less awesome news, Weezer’s new album, Raditude (I’m serious), will come out on October 27.

Here’s the track listing for There Is No Enemy:

01 Aisle 13
02 Hindsight
03 Nowhere Lullaby
04 Good Ol’ Boredom
05 Life’s a Dream
06 Oh Yeah
07 Pat
08 Done
09 Planting Seeds
10 Things Fall Apart
11 Tomorrow

Below is the first song that’s leaked from the new Weezer album. It’s titled “I(f You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” and isn’t half bad.

And just for kicks, here’s Built to Spill at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival:

R.I.P. Jim Dickinson

Jim Dickinson

It was announced today that renowned musician and producer, Jim Dickinson, died Saturday in Memphis at the age of 67. He passed away following triple bypass surgery.

A legend in the Memphis music scene, Dickinson first broke into the business with his band the Jesters. They’re hit song, “Cadillac Man,” is thought to be one of the last great Sun Records singles. Later, he became a successful session musician with the Dixie Flyers, as that group backed such artists as Little Richard and Aretha Franklin. A piano player by trade, he can be heard on the Rolling Stones cut “Wild Horses.”

In the 70s, he began producing albums, and continued to do so until his death. Among others, he produced Big Star’s Third, the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me, and Screaming Jay Hawkins’ At Last.

Throughout his lifetime, Dickinson made albums as solo artist and with other bands, though it never sold particularly well. Nevertheless, musicians such as Bob Dylan and Ry Cooder continued to use him on their albums. Dickinson played keyboards on Dylan’s 1997 album Time Out of Mind, which later went on to win the Grammy for Album of the Year.

He is survived by his two sons Cody and Luther Dickinson. You might know them from their band the North Mississippi Allstars.

I’m not going to lie and say I’m an expert of the music Dickinson wrote. However, I am definitely familiar with him as a producer. Like most, I knew him from the Big Star/Replacements connection. I’ll try to sum it up as best I can. Paul Westerberg, leader of the Replacements, was a huge fan of Big Star, in particular their lead singer Alex Chilton. Big Star’s album Third was produced by Jim Dickinson. As the Replacements evolved, they wanted to try something a bit different that might appeal to a larger audience. As Westerberg was a fan of that Big Star album, he enlisted Dickinson to produce the Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me. Given Dickinson’s background in Memphis blues, it’s amazing how well he worked with different genres. Samples of his work are below.

What? Sonic Youth to perform on “Gossip Girl”

Sonic Youth, pioneers of the no-wave sound and arguably the most influential underground band of the 90s, clearly are doing whatever they feel like as they get older. The group has agreed to appear on CW’s hit show “Gossip Girl” to perform an acoustic version of their single “Starpower” from their 1986 album EVOL.

Sonic Youth is one of my favorite bands,” says GG showrunner Stephanie Savage, “and last year when I was doing my regular Gossip Girl google search, it came up in some blog about a Sonic Youth show that Thurston [Moore] was playing ‘Psychic Hearts’ and Gossip Girl was playing on a screen in the background. And I was like, ‘Whaaaat? Oh my God. I hope they’re not making fun of us! I hope it was a cool, edgy homage!’ And it turned out that it was — tongue in cheek for sure, but definitely with love, and that they were fans of the show.” (Perhaps worth mentioning: Moore and his bandmate and wife, Kim Gordon, have a 15-year-old daughter.)

Last year, Moore and Be Your Own Pet’s Jemina Pearl cut a cover of the Ramones’ “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” for use during Jenny Humphrey’s guerrilla fashion show, and Savage says the conversation continued from there. “We have a very special event coming in Episode 5 that we’re filming right now,” she says, “and they seemed the ideal musical guest for it.” But in fine GG fashion, Savage is mum about the exact circumstances of the festivities involved. “It’s a big event that involves [engaged adults] Rufus and Lily. Just draw your own conclusions,” she laughs.

Is it just me, or does the expression “they sold out” not even matter anymore? When I heard this news, I cared very little about the sanctity of the band being at stake. Media has become so intertwined over the last few years it’s difficult to tell what defines a true “underground artist.” Growing up a fan of punk music, I remember when the Vans Warped Tour — a tour traditionally featuring only punk bands — started including major label acts as well as rappers. People were fussy at first, but now you wouldn’t think twice about seeing Katy Perry share the same stage as Bad Religion. Punk darlings the Dropkick Murphys appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” only to later perform countless times at Fenway Park before Red Sox games. Nobody complained.

It’s definitely a step in the right direction. The whole idea of “selling out” actually gives little credit to both the fans and the artists. We have the power to decide whether or not something has quality. Sonic Youth is a revolutionary band who has been around for three decades. It’s not hard to imagine that they’ve accrued fans in various professions. If the creator of “Gossip Girl” is a die-hard fan and wants to have them on her show, then so be it. Bands always use the excuse that these venues provide an outlet to a larger fanbase. In the case of Sonic Youth, I think they could give a damn.

Last year at the Grammys, the team of legendary rocker Robert Plant and country artist Alison Krauss won Album of the Year. In his acceptance speech, Plant said, “In the old days we would have called this selling out. But it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday.”

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