“Ghandi used a protest around salt taxes, MLK and Rosa Parks targeted buses. The American Revolution focused on tea. None of these targets were the whole point, they were the venue. The Russian Orthodox church has shown how clearly they are collaborating with the Putin regime, and was a target of a NON VIOLENT mocking protest. That is legitimate.”
In the US, we tend to have forgotten about this, popular music has mostly turned into entertainment for youth and can be summed up by herds of teenager girls in heat calling themselves ‘Beliebers’ and spoiled teenager boys admiring grown-up men rapping about rolex and Lamborghinis
Slash says: “Since I grabbed the reins and took off on my own I have realised you don’t need confrontation and volatility to make rock’n’roll work. It’s about playing music and having fun.
Her name is Dolores Erickson, she is 76 years old now, and she was interviewed in the the Seattle Times by Eric Lacitis, who found this quote from the New Yorker : “it fogged the minds of many young men”
‘Manson’s memory, or delivery, wasn’t nearly as sharp. On the contrary, where Bad Religion connected, Manson alienated. The singer’s platinum albums in the ’90s helped define goth rock, but on Saturday he seemed like a vampire awakened during daylight: groggy and out of it.’
So why filth up a perfect good concert with political warble? I say ‘perfectly good’ as a courtesy. I’m sure there were lots of paying fans at a recent Hank Williams JR show, did they need to hear this?
If all you know about Shaffer is his work with Letterman, you haven’t scratched the surface. In the 1970s he was House Pianist for Saturday Night Live, and also worked with the Blues Brothers. Paul was also the musical director for Gilda Live On Broadway, one of my favorite theater going experiences from back in the 1970s!
A pop soul album with one smart as a whip rap after another and hooks a-plenty. And if you wanna hear it do this: go to Best Buy on 44th street for his headlining turn on August 25th!
For Joe Strummer’s 60th Birthday celebration, we get the official releases, we get the B Sides and we get Acton Concert where Mick Jones joined him for a heavy dub version of “Bankrobber” among others. Problems? Any one?
When The Ship Comes In – Outernational – I wanted more muscle on the “Future Rock” EP, and I got it off this cover from the Dylan Tribute to benefit Amnesty International. It is a folk song, but the band give it a marshall beat and Miles Solay pushes the wordy lyric to the brink – Grade: A
If this is the state of the art, the art is coming into its own. As it works the fringe and the edge of pop music, metal is now left entirely to its own devices and it has become a counter-culture staple with offshoots and offshoots on offshoots, but rules firmly to be adhered to. I spent five hours with modern metal and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The stage blasted off with their dialed lights and the crowd erupted like Pompeii. They played for an hour and a half and we all knew they were gonna come out for an encore. What we didn’t know was that they would continue to play eight more tracks and continue for an additional hour.
As the Sunset Strip Music Festival is blocking traffic in West Hollywood on Saturday afternoon, and people are getting crowded with temperatures over 90ºF, I am home, still sweating in front of my computer, but comfortable nevertheless…
Since 2005 Jersey Boys had rocked Broadway with the tale of Frankie Valli. That’s all well and good but in honor of their 50th Anniversary, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons will actually have a full week run on Broadway.
He came up with the idea of having a robot stand-in for me in the video, a perfect replica I could send out to do tours and signings and what-not so the me of the video could stay home and do other things. It’s a funny idea because there really IS an element of having to having to craft a separate persona when you perform.
Considering her next single is to be called ‘Partynauseous’ , I believe this is crap. This is why she annoys me, she can actually survive on talent yet she cannot resist making a complete ass out of herself in the name of ‘art’ and ‘born this way’ nonsense
His new version is more stripped down, with less instrumentation, focusing on Elliott’s naked and fragile vocals, as if he was playing in the same room, right in front of you
Why would you want to pay to see the top 9 finalists of this crap program for an hour and a half? Why? Is there nothing left in the world better to occupy your time with?
Those people who were celebrating the summer of love are now in their mid 60’s and early 70s. Think of that and its astounding. Its like a giant Centrum Silver ad, the handicapped parking places will be jammed packed and Life Alert will be on standby.
OK, the keeper in all this is the Pet Shop Boys, and, of course, Bob Dylan. But how about the new Amanda Palmer album, sure the single sucked but maybe she can maintain her million dollar baby. SOme other goodies palling round as well: ZZ TOP, Bob Mould, Cat Power, the xx. Apparently, except for a weak labour day tuesday, the season has begun!
There is being hot and then there is being hot. Al Green is never less than right up there in the debate for the greatest soul singer of all time. He has already won the debate for greatest soul singer of the 1970s. And then there is hot after having the President croon one of your songs and remaining one of the greatest of all time. The Reverend is playing the Beacon on Wednesday but right now it feels more than just the great singer in town, it is the great singer making a victory lap in town.
Please God, I am not a praying man, if praying’s the same as begging Lord, I don’t take no charity. But if you can hear, please Lord, don’t let Ryan O’Shaughnessy hit it big in the States. I don’t really dislike the Britain’s Got Talent (ugh, what a name) singer but that double “h” and double “s” is gonna kill me.
Another boring chart. Rita is like Nicki Minaj if Nicki couldn’t rap and was a little knockout. Elbow and Kate are the only remnants of the Olympics bounce.
Beautiful Thing – Mini bio from the Global soul man, who has been around more than you have, and here is settling down into a soul groove and self help manual. Lives in its lightest touchest, the back-up harmonies for one – Grade: B+
There is such a thing as karma in this world. And if you want some bad karma fast, be mean to Dino’s kid and you will get it in the ear. The truth is, Deana can sing well, her phrasing is fine, she is a showwoman and she put on a fine show. And, that, my friends, is amore.
Musically, their sound has devolved into a streamlined bland version of what they used to be. They used to have some variety in their songs, shown by “Dance Hall Drug” and “Five Minutes to Midnight”, which were wonderfully composed and full of twists and turns that kept you tuned in
People (mostly from the UK!) descend upon Elvis Presley Blvd in Memphis TN and for a week they spend insane amounts of money on souvenirs and entertainment. None of it really worth the cost but it makes the people feel good to be a part of the event.
First of all, does Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti make that kind of money? They are an indie band, with a still underground-cultish success, could it be a bit exaggerated?
Jay Z is currently working on the soundtrack, was this idea born of his sample of “Hard Knock Life” sample in the tune Ghetto Anthem? Wow I am honestly disturbed at this project and at Emma Thompson for actually making it happen.
The Odd Future very first Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival will feature the usual suspects, such as Syd Tha Kid’s band the Internet, and their hardcore friends Trash Talk, who just signed to OF’s label, plus rides (really rides inside the Nokia?), games, contests, and what else? It is difficult to keep up with these kids!
Each painting has managed to capture the message of a song, like the one related to ‘Oh Susannah’, which features a dungaree-wearing banjo player with the text ‘Don’t you cry for me’, or the one related to ‘God Save the Queen’, showing an iconic image of Queen Elizabeth embroidering an American flag.
A new weekly column, essentially only songs released or re-released in 2012 that we (or I) really love this week. The Taylor will be up there for awhile now. PSB kinda fell off between TS and SB. Bob Mould is a grower. And PE is better than I initially claimed it was.
>> – Beak – Drone rock from one of the best experimental bands around. I saw Geoff Barrow’s side project at Bowery Ballroom a coupla years ago, and they blew me away there. This is is even better than the first album: it is background grim rhythm which, at its best, on “Yatton” lets its repetitive notes build into a song before subsiding. My only complaint is that Geoff doesn’t do enough with the drums… for obvious reasons I guess – Grade: A-
You Make Me Feel So Young – Steven Maglio – An astonishing interpreter of Sinatra but really, with that voice, I don’t see what this guy can’t sing. This is a gorgeous take on Ol’ Blue Eyes – Grade: A
A fantastic rendition of “Three Little Birds” which is adorable when you swap in an Irish accent for the Jamaican. I love Larry Kirwan’s vocals and energy. He took that crowd and owned them like a cool MC, unfortunately he was playing to the throngs of drunk bikers.
‘The truth is there was no intention behind any of it. There was no intention for my voice to sound old. The songs come out like they do because I like the sound of stuff like that. I didn’t start writing songs to get a record deal. I wrote songs to express myself and they ended up sounding old.’
Written for Will Anderson of the terrible, terrible MOR rock band Parachutes’ lead singer, it is the sort of song he couldn’t write with a blueprint. Instead he is behind dross like “She Is Love” -that should be executed at dawn
‘Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn’t understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn’t understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.’
But here comes the corn row wearing bloated AXL Rose with a 12 show stint at the Hardrock Hotel and Casino arena ‘The Joint’ I don’t know if I should laugh or cry. Titled the “Appetite for Democracy” residency it makes me think it should honestly be listed as the “Appetite for Buffet” residency.
Apparently Beady Eye at the Olympics wasn’t a coup d’etat by Liam Gallagher but an abdication by Noel Gallagher. And trust it to Noel to come off like a self-righteous dick while doing a fun and funny and right thing
But then she sorta morphed into this opinionated flag waver. Boom I left her camp straight away. Last thing I need in my life is some preachy broad in a wife beater. This is the lament of the woman rocker
What nags at the song, what Linda Ronstadt did, is pull up instead of down here. Nona’s plaintiveness is powerful in a subdued emotional declaration of desire. Linda’s reading was too smart. Too perfect. It gussied it up too much. Just about everybody else has no idea what to do with the song.
Declared in front of a Singapore crowd, during a concert, that Obama has staged episodes of mass violence around the US to pass a gun ban.
Shape I’m In – Spider Bags – In my rock nyc interview with him, Dan McGee pinpointed the “I was never too tall and I was never too thin” line as an example of how his skills as a writer of fiction coincided with his lyrical bias. How he told a story. Personally, I think the girl who wears her shoes just a little too tight, is a better example. Here’s why: it is because the girl chooses to wear em too tight that it becomes a characteristic, a snapshot. It suggests something about the girls coolness to life, and coolness to the singer. Grade: A+
Poor Pussy Riot and stupid, stupid Putin. The last thing he needed was to jail three 20 something women, two who have children. It is like putting a huge Billboard outside the country reading: “No Freedom Here”.
A soft calm intro that shakes you out of your lull and beckons you to join them on a musical roller coaster from white boy rap to punk rock screaming to a acid trip frip. Their sound almost as awkward as their band name.
By 1962 humans had ventured orbited the earth, the moon race was on and within a few years Captain Kirk would confirm space as our final frontier. It was in July of ‘62 that the promise of world-wide communication via satellite was born with the launch of Telstar.
I can still nod my head to this song and pretend I’m a soulful black woman crooning to a rainy windowpane about how I’m sick of having no love, but chances are: this song isn’t winning any awards.
The sight of the crowd that had amassed around the small stage at the far end of the room stood as proof of the conjoined anticipation for the night’s line-up. To the surprise of many, the show had actually sold out in advance, predictably leaving several kids scrambling over unwanted tickets.
Swift’s songwriting is nothing but art, it’s simply too obvious, too trite, too mystery-free! It’s lacking this necessary ingredient of mystery in art, which people tend to always forget about. Of course many songs are about love deception, heartbreaks and so on, but her songwriting is so direct, generic and simple.
