This whole series is hilarious. WBEZ's Justin Kaufmann interviews bands about the dubious information on their Wikipedia entries.
Here he is with the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne:
You can see more at the above link.
The Flight of the Conchords' second album, "I Told You I Was Freaky," hits stores Oct. 20. Track listing here.
By Hal Bienstock
Special to amNewYork
• Steely Dan plays Beacon Theatre July 28, 29, 31 and August 1, 3, 4, 10, 11.
Steely Dan may be one of the least likely bands to have ever become huge. Despite the fact that they weren’t especially good looking, rarely toured during their heyday and were playing music that had as much in common with jazz as it did with rock, the group managed to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide and get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Now, Steely Dan is gearing up for an eight-night stand at the Beacon Theatre. During five of the shows, it will play one of its classic albums start to finish. For the other three, it will play songs voted on by ticketholders.
We talked with band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker as they got ready for the shows.
During five of these shows, you’ll play either "The Royal Scam," "Aja" or "Gaucho" in its entirety. How did you choose those albums?
Fagen: They seemed like they were pretty good all the way through and they’re in a style that fit this configuration of the band. And no one would go see us play [2000's] "Two Against Nature" or [2003’s] "Everything Must Go," even though they’re also good all the way through.
Are you suggesting that your earlier albums weren’t good all the way through?
Fagen: They’re good till the last drop. But the early ones are in a slightly different style. They’re more rock inflected, so it’s a little further from what we’ve been doing for the last 15 years.
I was just in Las Vegas this weekend, and I was thinking of this song the whole time. There. Now it's like you were right there with me.
I didn't even know they were still together, but I've always liked these guys in an extremely casual way. Their farewell tour hits Bell House August 8.
Here's a song that's not "Flagpole Sitta":
Mental Floss has a list of five cover songs that are as good or better than their originals. Since I'm in a Beatle-y mood, I would submit this one for consideration:
Idolator has a pretty positive review of the forthcoming Beatles Rock Band. It sounds really awesome.
Also, last night I went to see Paul McCartney (the concert was awesome, though that's all the review you'll get from me), and during one of his songs, they played BRB footage on the big screen behind him. It was neat, but a little strange to hear McCartney give the game a plug after the song. I feel like, if anyone's at a point to be beyond commercial interests, it's Sir Paul freakin' McCartney. But whatevs. The rest was super cool.
TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone is trying out the solo thing for a bit under the name Rain Machine. You can stream his first single, "Give Blood" over at Pitchfork.
It sounds very TVOTR, just a little more frantic. I like it.
The album comes out Sept. 22.
By eh
(click for larger image)
My fascination with 8-bit has not waned in recent months, and, as long as things like Pterodactyl Squad's 8-bit Weezer album keep coming out, it's not likely to.
The compilation features 8-bit cover versions of all your favorite Weezer tunes by some of the greatest chip tuners around. Anamanaguchi's version of "Holiday," particularly, is magical.
Here's Thom Yorke performing a new solo song at Latitude Festival in England last weekend.
Eclectic Method - Back To The Back To The Future from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.
Eclectic Method remixes "Back to the Future."
Kind of. Frank Black talks with Minnesota Public Radio’s Mary Lucia about some of his songs. I don't know if it clarifies anything, but he does a nice solo acoustic rendition of "Velouria," below, so that's something.
Here's the full interview:
Here's the scoop:
Jack White (The Dead Weather) will be performing at Envoy Enterprises in the pop up store location of third man records on July 16th at 12 pm EDT in nyc. Only the first 100 people will be given wrist bands to attend the performance so be sure to show up early as it’s first come, first served. The store will be located at envoy enterprises, which is at 131 Chrystie Street (between Broome and Delancey).
Flame-haired songstress Tori Amos has entered the ranks of people who have covered "(Hit Me) Baby, One More Time."
Modern Guilt Acoustic "Orphans" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.
We just posted on the ultra-prolific Jack White, but he's not the only overachiever making news these days. Beck, one of our favorites, has launched a series of new ventures (Pitchfork has a pretty good summary here, you don't need me to rewrite it). The highlights include an acoustic version of 2008's "Modern Guilt," with one track per week posted to the Videotheque (that's entry no. 1, "Orphans," above) and a multi-part interview with Tom Waits posted to Irrelevant Topics. An excerpt:
TW: Yeah and we have every generation making a whole bunch of new [songs]. Even though the generation before says, "What's wrong with these tunes? We've got plenty of good tunes lying around here. What are you making new songs for? We've got cool songs about everything you're writing about. We've got plenty of songs about girls." "No, no. That's all right, Dad. We're doing something else, something cooler over here. You go ahead." And the dad says, "Do you know Jimmy DURANTE? Have you ever heard of Jimmy Durante?"
Here's Jack White and his new band, The Dead Weather, just shooting the breeze. I know White's persona can really rub some people the wrong way, but I really love it. Also, his hair is getting magnificent.
The other band members are no slouches either.
Oh, you want to hear what they sound like? Here's "Treat Me Like Your Mother."
The Dead Weather - Treat Me Like Your Mother
"Horehound" is out today.
Well, Albert Hammond Jr. did it first, to great acclaim; and Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti followed suit this summer, to mixed results; and now Julian Casablancas is doing it, leaving guitarist Nick Valensi the only Stroke to not have a side project.
Casablancas' album "Phrazes for the Young" will be out this fall, followed by a tour. The rumor earlier this year was that the on-hiatus Strokes were supposed to be gearing up for album number four, but this news kind of invalidates that news.
What does it mean when all but one of your five person band is pursuing a solo project? Has anything like that ever happened in rock history?
(Watch until the end)
A little MGMT/Lady Gaga cover action here.
Spin is reporting that in honor of the album's 20th anniversary, the Pixies are playing a series of concerts this fall dedicated to "Doolittle." They are coming to New York, but no dates are set yet.
And, just because I love it, here's TV on the Radio's cover of Mr. Grieves.
Here's the new Lily Allen video to "22," her song about I'm-turning-30 panic that some ladies face. As Stereogum points out "30-year-old" Lily is just "22-year-old" Lily with messier hair and makeup, but it's kind of a cute little skewering of societal pressures and, you know, shallow idiots. I just love Lily.
