Today would have been Buddy Holly’s 75th birthday, and the music industry hasn’t forgotten.  Instead, the second Buddy Holly tribute album released this year, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, dropped yesterday, competing with June’s Rave On Buddy Holly with a far more demanding title and a whole new cast of stars.

These are very kind birthday presents, and a nice way to commemorate one of rock’s first icons, whose tunes are flexible enough to morph into many genres.  But the question remains: Which tribute wins?  Let the competition begin! Read the rest of this entry »

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Frusciante Rages Against Recycling in RHCP's "Can't Stop"

John Frusciante’s name is on the tip of every music critic’s tongue in the wake of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ latest release, I’m With You.  The band’s twelfth album has been given almost across-the-board lukewarm (or dead cold) reviews, and an increasing number of critics have been assigning the blame to the former guitarist’s absence.

Not even a founding member, Frusciante has left the Chili Peppers before, in 1992, amidst the angst of new fame post-Blood Sugar Sex Magik and a serious heroin habit.  But John Frusciante has been involved in all of the Chili Peppers’ most successful albums, including Californication, By the Way, and the band’s 2006 double album, Stadium Arcadium, in addition to Blood Sugar Sex Magik.  Missed not only for his fantastic guitar playing, Frusciante may have been one of the hardest working members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as evidenced by his already prolific solo career. Read the rest of this entry »

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Culture critic Chuck Klosterman once wrote, “The most wretched people in the world are those who tell you they like every kind of music ‘except country.’”  I hate to count myself amongst the wretched, but I had almost given up on country music.  Lately, it seems the only thing coming out of the country camp borders on pop, not the air-guitar-worthy country-rock of legends like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young.

Fortunately, it seems I’m not the only one thirsting for more thick beats behind country music’s modern twang. Blitzen Trapper‘s new album, American Goldwing, puts the rock back into country’s roll, sounding out a solid release for the Portland hillbillies. Read the rest of this entry »

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She began as the Woman Behind the Curtain, the saucy lady on the scene.  A songwriter, a muse, possibly even a “super groupie,” Betty Davis was a familiar face to musicians from every genre in the late 60s and early 70s, lending her lyrics to The Commodores for their breakthrough demo, befriending Jimi Hendrix, and loving and inspiring Miles Davis during their brief, volatile marriage in 1968.

Betty’s gift for famous flings and friendships isn’t hard to figure out.  She cut a stunning silhouette with her stand-out afro and flair for funky fashion, a short-lived modeling career already under her belt by the time she sashayed onto the music scene.  But Betty wasn’t one to lean on anyone, and she definitely wasn’t your average groupie.  Betty always had her eyes on her own music career.  By the time she released her 1973 self-titled debut, Betty Davis, she had already taken control of her destiny, writing all of the songs, directing their arrangement, and self-producing the majority of her studio albums afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tell VH1 to go home.  We’ve got a real list of Movies that Rock, as defined by their impeccable compiled soundtracks.  Putting aside biopics like Ray or The Doors, documentaries like No Direction Home or Woodstock, album projects like The Wall, Tommy, or Purple Rain, and original soundtracks like Taxi Driver or Air’s work for The Virgin Suicides, this list focuses on “regular” narrative movies, comprised of fictional characters, that nevertheless went out of their way to secure soundtrack gold.

Before we get into it, I should also clarify that there are tons of great movies with fantastic soundtrack “moments” that are not included on this list.  Think Tom Cruise dancing in his skivvies to “Old Time Rock and Roll” in Risky Business or Christian Bale enthusiastically spilling Jared Leto’s blood to “Hip to Be Square” in American Psycho or even Ian Somerhalder getting frisky to “Faith” in Rules of Attraction.  Those songs are really only fun to listen to in the context of the clip, and the overall soundtracks falter. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hide your bottles, The Wine Thieves are crashing your party with their Hot Hor D’oeuvres EP, now available on YouTube.  Heavy on the confidence and slick in its production, Hot Hor D’oeuvres is sample-ridden stoner hip-hop interspersed with audio clips reminiscent of Wu-Tang’s 36 Chambers.  Its unusual layered beats sometimes sound like a chopped and screwed bongo player going crazy at a poetry reading, and each track draws your attention with its humor, flow, and unexpected sonic pairings.  With The Wine Thieves, it’s impossible to anticipate where the next three minutes will take you.

Producer/beat master Party.picasso and rapper Emcee Hype met at William Paterson University in 2003.  “There seemed to be an instant musical connection between the two of us,” Party.picasso told emcBlue in a recent interview.  “The minute we found out we both freestyled and had a love for hip-hop, that was the end of it.” Emcee Hype adds, “I don’t think we spoke in prose for years. Everything was a freestyled rhyme. Read the rest of this entry »

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Rachel Fuller is the long time, significant other, heterosexual life partner of Pete Townshend from the legendary rock band The Who.  Several years ago, she released an album that was not as well received, critically and commercially, as she had hoped and was looking for a way to connect to a wider audience.  Thus “In the Attic” was born. 

It started with a web cam in the home studio (always a risky proposition) with her and some folks talking about music and occasionally playing some tunes.  In 2006-2007 when The Who decided to tour again (Exactly how many farewell tours have they pulled off?), Rachel got the idea to take a traveling studio to the various festivals The Who played and invite other artists, who played the festivals, to come in and chat, perform a song or two and stream it over the miracle of the World Wide Web.  This worked well for the European leg of the tour and had gained quite a following.  As The Who made plans to tour North America, a new plan was needed as the logistics and expense of shipping and traveling in the studio were apparently prohibitive.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Earlier this summer, Unknown Mortal Orchestra released their debut album, a falsetto-driven, mellowed-out psych-rock record that received a lot of attention thanks to the viral success of its first single, “Ffunny Ffriends.”  Unique and enjoyable, the self-titled album has edged its way into my summer soundtrack, but the song that I can’t stop playing is “Jello and Juggernauts.” Read the rest of this entry »

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The camera pans across the unyielding desert.  Nothing stirs.  The wind barely blows as every grain of sand seems glued to the earth’s floor.  Majestic shapes of impossible rock rise above the landscape, cutting into the bleached sky with unimaginable silhouettes.  As the scene begins, the hint of a song kicks up, a song that could only exist here.  But what is it?

It may be the plaintive whistle of a classic Ennio Morricone tune or a thick, dark beat from The Doors, musicians who drew inspiration from and came to define the West.  Or it could be one of Spindrift’s scores.  Inspired by the likes of Morricone and Morrison, Spindrift has emerged from the LA scene as the psychedelic spaghetti western pioneers of the modern age, crafting soundtrack music that skews the rules of time, sending new pictures back into the desert depths of westerns gone by.  Their latest release, Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, compiles the band’s best soundtrack work, a unique collection that celebrates Spindrift’s colorful collaborations.

I recently got the chance to chat with Kirpatrick Thomas, the man behind Spindrift’s sound and scoring, about Classic Soundtracks Vol. 1, the legend of the West, and the origins of Spindrift. Read the rest of this entry »

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Cowboy and Indian at SXSW, Plemons far right

Jesse Plemons may have killed a man on NBC as Landry Clarke, the nerdy comic relief-turned-murderer in Friday Night Lights‘ worst plot twist, but he’s since risen from his roots on the now-defunct (though excellent) TV show to play a different role: folk singer.  Plemons is part of a folk crew, called Cowboy and Indian, whose outfits are something to shake an eyebrow at and whose gorgeous vocal harmonies and down-south fever are enough to start you square dancing.

And no, Friday Night Lights fans, Cowboy and Indian don’t sound anything like Landry’s fictional Christian thrash band, Crucifictorious. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lykke Li, at first wash, is our generation’s Nico.  Both came to us from Europe (Sweden and Germany, respectively) with beautiful faces, cold stares, and unusual accents.  And both embody that same mystery, a cool air of unspoken depth and inner darkness.  Perhaps the greatest difference is that Lykke Li grew into her shadowy success.

She began as a light-hearted, light-footed Swedish pop singer, drawing attention with her stripped-down, kinda-techno, dance-happy single, “Little Bit,” off of 2008′s Youth Novels.  Now, Lykke Li’s translated her penchant for shoulder-shaking into the desperate, drunk and defiant dancing of this year’s “Sadness is A Blessing,” adding tension, subtracting softness, and reaching for a mystical, tribal essence in her latest release, Wounded Rhymes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Hair Rocket's Punishment Cookie and The Great Afternoon's Self-Titled EP

Now on consignment at the Princeton Record Exchange are two exciting new projects from local bands, Hair Rocket and The Great Afternoon.  Hair Rocket, from Lumberville, Pennsylvania, recently released their first full-length album, the upbeat, edgy Punishment Cookie, and Lambertville’s The Great Afternoon just released their first official, and extremely folksy, self-titled EP.

First, let’s start off with Hair Rocket, whose Punishment Cookie is surprisingly rewarding.  Pop-punk in the best possible way, Hair Rocket shoot through their first full-length with a witty, high-energy, yet irreverent sound, playing rough and fast while managing to pull off the polish. Read the rest of this entry »

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Once again, nothing like that personalized, autographed CD cover.

If you caught my last post, I went on about a talented young bassist by the name of Julie Slick who plays bass in the Adrian Belew Power Trio.  For this young lady to be able to handle parts by bassists of such renown as Tony Levin, Les Claypool and others, as well as converting parts played on the Chapman Stick and Warr Guitar, is an ambitious feat in itself.  So it was of little surprise to me that she could conjure up a series of songs to compile a solo disc.  What was surprising was the depth and imaginativeness as well as the maturity and depth of composition this young artist has displayed.  Again, if you are looking for Katy Perry, Lada Yada, or other pop divas of that ilk, this ain’t it.  This is the direction of progressive music of the female gender.  Artists like Tori Amos, Nina Hagen, even some instrumental Laurie Anderson come to mind.  Slick professes not to be a vocalist, but I’d love to comprise this line-up: Amos on keyboards and vocals, Anderson on keyboards, violin, electronics and vocals, Slick on bass and electronics, and Maureen Tucker of Velvet Underground (Anderson’s husband Lou Reed’s former bandmate) on percussion and anything else she wants.

GoGo’s my gluteus maximus (and at my age, it is maximus)…

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Members of Peter Kernel

Swiss-Canadian noise pop trio Peter Kernel recently released the first single off of their upcoming sophomore album, White Death & Black Heart.  With a video to match, the single marches along with an anti-this, anti-that, pro-easy living punk attitude.

A mix of sunshine, anarchy, and edgy vocals, “Anthem of Hearts” starts off with a shock to the system care of singer and bass player Barbara Lehnhoff, but soon melts into a lovey-dovey soothing vocal, reaching for “a place to live and dream.”  Check out the new song by these misanthropic romantics after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

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Kofi Anteneng and Jim Wilson

In the digital age, it’s not a rare occurrence for a musician in one country to be inspired by an artist in another.  But perhaps now more than ever, it’s unusual for the two to meet.  And when one unknown musician travels hundreds of miles to see and record with another equally unknown musician, each with hardly any money to fund such a far-away friendship, it is a rare and special musical journey.

Jim Wilson is on such a journey, and he needs our help.  Wilson is a musician living and working in Athens, Georgia, involved with a number of local bands.  In 2008, Wilson took his first trip to Accra, Ghana where he met multi-instrumentalist Kofi Anteneng, a man who until that moment was a stranger to Jim.  Kofi and his band, The Warriors, instantly struck Wilson with their skill and style.  Together, Kofi and Jim began a project that will become Taxicab Verses. Read the rest of this entry »

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Black Milk and Jack White: Together, White Milk

Third Man Records recently proved that you should never say never with the release of their latest project: a 7″ single from Detroit rapper Black Milk.  The first hip-hop music Jack White’s label has ever released, Black Milk’s single is, not surprisingly, more than your average rap track.  Laced with touches of funk, soul, and sax, both songs rock retro while rapping righteously.

White stepped in to play guitar on the A-side, “Brains,” and drums on the B-side, “Royal Mega.”  According to Black Milk, the collaboration was White’s idea.  On his website, Milk describes the encounter: Read the rest of this entry »

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I had a dream we were here three times before. Except in my dream things constantly changed, people that were here aren’t, things that happened that definitely will not. The days light slowly hides away from us like a large toy chest closing and we are on the inside, we keep moving mile marker one after the other. Its all a blur and the stars hide out on the outskirts of the horizon, the highway is no place for stargazing and no place for two crazy souls seeking rhythms and healing undulations. We can only find adventure in our hearts and when we seek it we will always find the adventure that is meant entirely for us. This adventure has the meaning that only two sets of eyes can see yours and mine. This year we drive endlessly into the dark once again to the valley, till we reach our destination Indio, California where the Coachella Music Festival reinvigorates our souls, our hearts and reminds us why we are still here, still smiling. Read the rest of this entry »

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Nothing like a personalized, autographed DVD case of the Adrian Belew Power Trio Live In Germany.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I’d like to take a minute or two to express some heartfelt emotions.  Yup, first entry back and I’m getting all mushy.  But I’d like to thank all of my faithful followers who contacted me on my Facebook page and relayed their concerns regarding my absence from these sites.  I have been, and to a lesser extent, still am, under the weather.  I will remain classified as such until an exam later this month.  I also want to thank a couple of new Facebook friends who convinced me that regardless of negative feedback, my opinion of the art form is the only one that should matter in my forum.  Thank you Steve and Elliott.

I have a lot of catching up to do, so let’s get to it!

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The Jayhawks are the harmonizing alt/country, rootsy, rock, with a touch of pop/folk band that emerged from Minneapolis, Minnesota in the mid 80’s.  Considered by many to be one of the forefathers of the then bourgeoning alt/country scene.

Formed in 1985 and co-helmed by Gary Louris and Mark Olson, The Jayhawks released their self titled debut on the indie label Bunkhouse Records.  In an attempt to snag a major label deal, the band recorded a set of demos, and then due to tragic and unforeseen circumstances, Gary temporarily left the band.  Upon his return, the collection of demos was fashioned into their sophomore release Blue Earth. Read the rest of this entry »

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On the cusp of summer, I sat in a living room in Lambertville listening to members of High Hearts pick a mandolin, banjo, and acoustic guitar.  Aided by these three unusual instruments, the simple yet resounding chorus of “Gypsy Girl” drifted through the warm air and out the screen door, greeting neighbors with the wistful reminder that “the world is a lonely place/yes, the world is a lonely place.”

Though the lyrics may sound sorrowful, the true feeling of High Hearts isn’t rooted in melancholy, but in the comforting yet confronting attitude of old-time folk music.  Formed by Shaun Ellis and Matt Pillischer in 2005, these local musicians have now released their first album Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist, available at the Princeton Record Exchange. Read the rest of this entry »

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