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Lioness: Lioness

January 16, 2009 /

Lioness is a three-piece electronic act from Toronto who combine ’80s-influenced alt-rock and 90s electronic music successfully on their five-track self-titled debut EP. Unlike many other Canadian rock bands who have sucked the power and emotion out of their music with their desire to be hip and indie, Lioness is a powerful and bombastic band that oozes energy thanks to killer electronic beats and powerful vocals by lead singer Vanessa Fischer. While the music of Lioness is good, it’s Fischer that makes the band, bellowing and moaning with fierce intensity. Her power lies in the fact that she doesn’t sing like a rock singer, instead she gives songs like the fast-paced “You’re In My Heart” and beat-heavy “Haunted Magick” an funky jazz/blues vibe. If Beth Gibbons from Portishead screamed more, she’d sound like Vanessa Fischer does here. Lioness has crafted quite a tease with this short EP, it will be interesting to see if they can carry it for a full album. (New Romantic)

Lioness MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica

Rolling Stone visits U2 in the studio

January 14, 2009 /

U2 is currently tweaking their new album, No Line on the Horizon, and Rolling Stone visited the band to get a preview.

The journey was as spellbinding and energizing as you might imagine, and you’ll be able to read all about it when our new issue hits newsstands on Wednesday, January 7th. To tide you over, here’s a track-by-track preview of 10 choice songs (and you can dig deeper into all our U2 coverage in our archive):

“Get On Your Boots”
The likely first single, this blazing, fuzzed-out rocker picks up where “Vertigo” left off. “It started just with me playing and Larry drumming,” the Edge recalls. “And we took it from there.”

The preview goes through a list of 10 songs in the same manner, but don’t be surprised if titles change or the songs disappear altogether. Apparently, the album is still in a state of flux.

Artists, External Music, Interviews, Songs

Rivers Cuomo: Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

January 9, 2009 /

Someone in a popular men’s print magazine recently said something horrible about the latest Weezer album, something to the effect of, “If Rivers Cuomo burned down a hospital, it wouldn’t be the worst thing he did in 2008.” As harsh as that may sound, that critic probably hadn’t heard Cuomo’s latest batch of home recordings, sharply titled Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo. Cuomo is one of those songwriters that you might call prolific, and he’s been known to literally use computer formulas to create those songs. The problem is that whatever formulas he’s using are not very good, and if his “best” stuff is being released on the Weezer albums, why would anyone want to hear this schlock? Okay, it’s not all schlock – tracks like “I Was Scared” and “My Brain Is Working Overtime” sound like classic Weezer. But that’s two tracks out of 19. Everything else ranges from bad to downright painful, especially “Please Remember” and “Can’t Stop Partying,” on which Cuomo’s raw, pitchy vocals effectively marry nails and chalkboard. And he sounds like a whiny emo kid from 1999 on “My Day is Coming.” So before we all start hating Weezer, whether we were fans of the band before, let’s hope Mr. Cuomo goes on a long vacation, or does something else newsworthy so we can forget about these awful home recordings. He doesn’t have to burn down a hospital, but robbing a hot dog cart wouldn’t be a bad idea. (DGC Records/Interscope)

Rivers Cuomo MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Emo, Pop, Power Pop, Punk, Rock

Peter Buffett: Imaginary Kingdom

January 9, 2009 /

Few musicians have carved a career as strange and wonderful as that of financial guru Warren Buffett’s second son Peter. After decades of electronic-based instrumental albums and Native American-themed works – one of which landed in “Dances with Wolves” – Buffett didn’t sing a note into a microphone until 2006, at which point he clearly caught the bug. Imaginary Kingdom is his third vocal album in as many years, and while it shares the one-man-show aspect of his other work – one could call Buffett a forefather of bedroom pop – the sum is more than one man jamming with himself. The rhythm section is simple, yes, but warm, something most self-made records lack. Aqualung’s Matt Hales surely wishes he had written “Set Me Free,” and Joseph Arthur could slip “Can I (Again)” into his set without anyone batting an eye. It’s all perfectly pleasant, though he creates a disconnect whenever he runs his vocals through what sounds like an Autotuner (“Ready”). He clearly loves playing with his machines, but what makes Imaginary Kingdom so endearing is its human element. He may be late to the pop game, but better late than never. (BeSide Records 2008)

Peter Buffett MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Electronica, Pop

Apple changes iTunes pricing

January 6, 2009 /

I’m surprised it took so long to make this change.

Under Apple’s new pricing plan that will take effect in April, Mr. Schiller said songs will cost 69 cents, 99 cents or $1.29. He said the “vast majority” of the songs will cost 69 cents, though people familiar with the matter said the most sought-after songs — which generate most of the sales on the service — will likely cost $1.29 as both Apple and the major record labels try to boost revenue growth. Wholesale prices charged by the record labels are likely to change to reflect the new price points; spokespeople for Apple and major record labels declined to discuss their agreements.

Apple also said it is dropping digital rights management, or copy protection, from eight million songs in its catalog effective immediately, and from the remaining two million in its catalog by the end of March.

Apple’s DRM has made it complicated for iTunes customers to use competitors’ products, like SanDisk Corp. music players or Microsoft Corp.’s Zune. Among the limits imposed by the software locks, it is difficult or impossible to play songs purchased from the iTunes Store on devices other than the iPod or iPhone.

For those of us who have loaded up on iTunes songs over the years, we can pay 30 cents a song to upgrade previously purchased songs in their iTunes library to a DRM-free version. Frankly, this sucks. We hould get the new versions for free.

News

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