Over the past few weeks, Mumford & Sons have been playing intimate shows in various cities around the world in order to test out the new material live. We’re pleased to reveal that tomorrow night, Monday 6th April, they’ll play a show in the one and only New York City, at Le Poisson Rouge.
There is a very simple test you can do on Tidal, it allows you to play five songs (you don’t pick the songs, and I got the Killers, James Blake, Daft Punk, the Eagles and the Dixie Chicks) using two sound sources A and B. You can switch back and forth between A and B during the short music sample, then determine which of the two is the high fidelity sound source. I was using my Macbook connected to a Logitech speaker system. I paid around $40 for them and they sound okay for me, but I did very badly at the test, I guessed 2 out of 5 correctly!! Not bad? Are they kidding?
It doesn’t matter if you share their faith, that you believe a man walked on water and they believe there are aliens attacking you. You say baptize, they say go clear… no difference to an agnostic Out to attack Scientology, if I was Dave I’d use this as a recruiting tool -there is nothing close to the nightmares I had assumed in this religion
Taylor Swift was spotted in Los Angeles at a Haim concert at the Troubadour on Thursday…. And she was holding hands with Calvin Harris… the world’s highest paid DJ with the world’s highest paid pop star, what a power couple! And both highly overrated! But we already know it won’t last for very long.
On the last track of the four song EP, Jessi sings “I’ am just the subject of gravity” and the lyric hits home in a minimal acoustic setting. It’s a wonderful thing, a near perfect song among near perfect songs. I’ve heard Jessi will be off to college this year.I am sure she will do great, though with this sort of gift for songwriting I sure hope it won’t distract from her songwriting too much.
“I’m not a girl trying to be a star or trying to be anything besides a musician. I don’t think I’m gonna be at all famous. I don’t think I could handle it. I’d probably go mad.”
Some good ones here. Obviously a new Brian Wilson is always good news even if I have my doubts and Waxahatchee is a talented woman, the Mountain Goats single off this album was awesome and Drug Cabin are first rate but no…. I am going to see Young Fathers. on Friday and I can’t wait and the two new songs I’ve heard off their new album are excellent and they are the best new band of the year. A huge band.
The only time I’ve seen Rhiannon Giddens, either with or without Carolina Chocolate Drops, was at the Town Hall as part of T-Bone’s boring new folk extravaganza and she left little impression, and I wasn’t crazy about her New Basement Tapes album, but her current album Tomorrow Is My Turn is all that Gospel blues soul plus plus plus and so I am back to the Town Hall on Thursday to hear what I missed
Sunshine On My Back – The Nationals – I had written that sometimes bands move forward and sometimes they stay in place and this stays in place and then I noticed it was recorded two years ago. Still, damn good, with Sharon Van Etten on backup vocals and sunshine nowhere near anyones shoulders – B+
When I was ushered in, I showed Brian a pic on my phone of a painting I did of him that he signed in Long Beach. He said he dug it and that he remembered seeing it. Well, that was pretty bitchen’ to say the least. Again, here was my musical hero and I hardly had much to say to him. What do you say to a modern day Mozart or Beethoven? What do you say to a musical genius?
His specialty is country music heartbreak and folk ballads, but he’s not a one dimensional artist. When he sings about losing his love on “Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown,” his emotional loss is so heavy that he not only feels disconnected from his former lover, but from the world is a whole. Such is the man’s gravitas.
The Neighborhood Bullys include drummer Reijo Kauppila and Zach Jones on rhythm guitar, which means they are in the business of selling you on a groove on song after song. It is like being pushed in a crowded club, it gets your attention but you know it is the price you pay for great rock and roll.
I was hip hopping between Flo Rida on Fallon, just because I like the iteration of the “F” and also because I do like Flo Rida and Saint Motel, who, despite playing Kimmel a while back, don’t get enough TV time and I like em, I actually interviewed em six years ago as well, so I went with Saint Motel.
We shall breast the tape at Barcelona and Murcia (Spain) in April and May, and then we square up for four nights at the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Good times for a change. Is it illegal to be this happy? Thank you, also, to everyone who has managed to download “Kiss me a lot” from iTunes. We value your interest and encouragement beyond measure.
“Ballad of the Green Berets” Sgt. Barry Sadler – This sounds almost hysterical in its overwhelming and over the top jingoism for murder. Sometimes people have to kill people, and it is many things, but it ain’t a reason to celebrate. And even if we have to hear this stuff, couldn’t they write a decent hymn for us? – D
the Beach Boys’ iconic catalog was brushed (in not the right order) by Norah Jones and Gingger Shankar, Heart’s Ann Wilson, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Steve Drozd, Devendra Banhart, Monters of Folk’s M. Ward, Al Jardine, Blondie Chaplin, Boz Scaggs, Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, Local Natives, Capital Cities’ Sebu Simonian, Wilson Philips, Karen Elson, ex Magnetic Zeros’ Jade Castrinos, Adam Busch and Danny Masterson, Lucius’ Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, Doyle Bramhall II, Punch Brothers, Civil Wars’ Joy Williams, Kesha….
I painted a woe looking, dizzy Cab, sort of hoping that the jive *ss peeps stop the hepness and just power down the grape without all the posing fanfare. I figured Cab is short for Cabernet. The swirling world is painted in muted metallics because I wanted to and also I like shiny things and you all should like shiny things too!
You won’t know it from the reviews, but if these three songs are anything to go by, this won’t be much of an addition to the canon, in much the same way and for many of the same reasons the last Beach Boys album wasn’t. Like Bruce and Paul, and an army of others, Brian does what he did only not half as well.
In 2010 I had the pleasure to interview Darryl Jennifer of the legendary punk band Bad Brains, just before his performance at the Sunset Junction Fair. I met him in his Hotel room in the middle of the afternoon, and I had this great conservation with Darryl – AC
This list of songs belong to my friend Steve, who is a very nice guy and a very social guy. I like some of em, “Judas” is an inspired choice, “Faith” a great song by any standards, but is “Stairway To Heaven” really a song of faith? Indeed, how is “Both Sides Now” a song of faith. I mean faith in not knowing?
After a coupla weeks of one great song after another, this one is a fizle, though Anna and Donato are especially worth your attention, the Wale album is the first time I’ve really liked him and Sufjan is a complete revelation.
One of the saddest days in the year for me are Father’s Day, it is the one where it becomes clear that I have no children and nieces and nephew aren’t a substitute. It is a day dreamy concern (I don’t like the responsibility of a woman or a cat so it would be a form of hell…) but when you hear songs like this it triggers something. Less the urge to continue the Iman line and much more the urge to be loved
Across The Universe – David Bowie – It is worth noting how much worse this is than even the Rufus Wainwright take. Botched and a half by Phil Spector, the Lennon unplugged version is the one to go for, Bowie overdoes everything to start with and when the best thing you can do with the song is let it speak for itself, Bowie oversings it at then some – C-
Let’s hope Moby’s enterprise will not be among these failures, I just wonder whether he has more of a Jay Z-Bono-Timberlake business sense than a Spears-Lopez-Hynde’s. One thing is sure I would die rather than trying Keith or Queen Latifah’s greasy meat, but I may check out Moby’s vegan place this summer.
For the second day at Burgerama, I adopted a slightly different strategy, instead of trying to see as many bands as possible, I tried to see less of them but
I Don’t Prefer No Blues – Leo “Bud” Welch – hard electric guitar blues by an unknown master who just celebrated his 83rd birthday and 50th year in Church and hear sounds like maybe you should be locking up your daughters. Man, is this guys mojo working.
Joan Of Arc – Madonna – An impossibly fragile madge, shows her heart is going up in flames as scumbugs like your truly put her through the ringer for being a middle aged diva well past her prime. Which she might well be, but you can’t tell from this song
Dream Lover – The Vaccines – The band behind the excellent “Post Break Up Sex” are back and the song is a thumping riff but without the prerequisite melodic buzz. It is like when your teen friend grows up and becomes a complete pain in the neck. This is a bluesy disappointment – C
I am all for “I’d rather hear a good song twice than a bad song once” but this ridiculous, the 13 week chart buster at the top is the Rutles of funk and the song at the bottom is a remix of Whitney Houston. Still, La rose is easy on the eyes, and disco is, in fact disco. Call it the Jerimih touch.
Kidz Bop Kids have had there moment and I am now here to officially tell you, it is over so please stop. A karoake strained cover of pop hits doesn’t improve because a bunch of little brats are singing it and by now any novelty at all is completely over with, so knock it off.
Drive-In Saturday – Morrissey – Changing Jagger into David Johansen is one thing, but not quite hitting the melody is a bigger problem entirely. Assume the live setting isn’t happening except, cmon, when is happening production wise for this cat? – B
A lovely light show helped and so did the whistling, though it was through the beauty of their music, whether an a cappella opening or bass guitar electrifying, heartfelt soulful and very emotional-secret weaponish singing by guitarist Joe Newman, or distracted keyboard doodlings, the set seldom slackened too much.
“I never smelled racism. I never heard of any racism except this celebration of divisiveness in the media, academia and by our own government. So when I hear the racism from a gun-running attorney journal and they side with an Al ‘Not So’ Sharpton racist mongrel, it breaks my heart”
The nice people at Burgerama gave me a photo pass so I had access to the photo pit, which is certainly a delight but also a terrible temptation to take as many pictures as possible… This is just what I did, and I ended up with hundreds of photos to sort out today! The pictures reflect the best moments of these two days
Jay Z recently purchased the streaming service for some $56 million and he wants to make it as a competitor to Spotify, or Rdio. Alicia called it the ‘beginning of a whole new era’,… but for whom exactly? A new era for Jay Z and Madonna to make even more money? What’s new exactly? A new sound? a better listening experience?
This includes a meet and greet with Charlie Watts and a portrait by Ron Wood. Unfortunately, Mick and Keef will not be making themselves available though Mick will dedicate a song to you at the performance and you will be considered a “Stones Benefactor”. Also, you will get four free tickets to the show of your choice. Also, the deluxe Sticky Fingers in every available format. After ticketmaster charges , the final price will be $120,000.
Laura, Alisson, Madonna and Brandi all got two songs on this list, and that is while I was making a concerted effort not to get more than one song off an album. A very strong month for songs, although not for albums. I would love to see Alisson live again, but she doesn’t appear to be playing roud are way.
Vagabond Moon Live – Willie Nile – From The Bottom Line, from 1980, and a welcvome reminder if necessary how great this guy, a Byrdsy folk rock dipped in new wave and never better than this terrific and heart felt version. This guy shoulda been a lot bigger – A
Impossibly lovely and gentle, a lost love track with Zayns lovely voice, 1D will really miss his impossibly beautiful voice and if he continues working with the truly gifted Khan, this could prove a great collaboration, while adding a touch of credence to what I was writing yesterday about Pakistan and the UK
A memento mori for the Mom he barely knew, this softly acoustic folk album conjures the ghost of Elliott Smith to show how beautifully you can sing about the saddest things. I never really liked Sufjan but I could be wrong, you know – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-
Arabs aren’t the only, and not even the biggest, objects of rock racism. In ’76, mindless punks wore swastikas at English concerts (swastikas adorned the label of Vicious’s pathetic Sid Sings). Siouxsie Sioux used to sing “too many Jews for my liking.” By the time punk had passed, an English offspring called “Oi” aligned themselves with the fascist party, the National Front. The NF advocated Pakistani bashing and sending the West Indians back to where they came from
“I feel like I’ve let the fans down but I can’t do this anymore. It is crazy and wild and a bit mad but, at the same time, I’ve never felt more in control in my life. And I feel like I’m doing what’s right – right by myself and right by the boys, so I feel good.
Great Voices In Harlem, The Gloster Project – MIST Harlem – Sunday, March 9th, 2015 – Any afternoon, any time at all, you get to listen to such a great collection of musicians, especially in such an intimate space, is a great afternoon. Or evening. And in aid of such a wonderful project -did I mention Dr. Randy Weston was there?
Great Expectations – Toto – The thing about prog-rock is that it is smug for no reason, it is the Bob Lefsetz of popular music, highbrow content for low brow sensibilities. This song closes out the new Toto album and the only thing we know for sure is lower your expectations right now – D
I enjoyed it to a limited degree, despite not being a big fan of anybody in it, except for the three actors playing his daughter Murph. The punchline works, it is a clever pay off, and the script, by Christopher and his brother Jonathan Nolan, has a satisfying tick tock (apt for a movie obsessed with gravity as a type of time machine
Sister Rosetta Tharpe had a complicated relationship with religion – she was born into the business of religion and when she performed secular music, it was always at the risk of alienating her core audience. Late in her life she stated that she wasn’t a “fanatical believer,” although that may have been more of a casual comment than a reflection of her core convictions.
Fitz told me about his love of the 60’s – 65’s AM radio music, his preferred period in songwriting and raved about Motown being definitely his favorite period in music. Having always loved the way the records of this time sound, he wanted to do something heavily influenced by that period but he did not want to do a pastiche
On the eighth of a nine performance New York residency over the month of March, Bjork performed six songs from her new album of lost love and complicated feelings, took a break, and returned a brand new woman for the second set. It is called Catharsis… or art… or something.
Can’t say I am too fond of James Bay, another small town boy way more precious than anybody really needs to be, I prefer Seasick Steve, a blues guy from Cali who is big in the UK because he sounds like an English blues guy and not a US. Because he is white?
You know Jess Glynn, right? She was the voice on Clean Bandits humongous “Rather Be”, as well as their less exalted but pretty great “Real Love”. This solo shot is almost the equal as well, with a gorgeous choppy intro and a typically tasty disco beat
