Weekly FeaturesJan 7-13Issue 2.33by Jay Zimmer • Fired by the Beatles when they were on the brink of mega-stardom, Pete Best became a footnote in musical history. It took a long time, but today he’s okay with that, and he’s carving out his own success with his own band that bears his name. Best turned 67 in November of 2008. He still lives in Liverpool, and still speaks in that adenoidal, throaty Northern accent called Scouse.…read more by Denise Sullivan • The apocalyptic, broke-down sound comes quite naturally to this band from the otherwise tony Westside; four-fifths of them hail from the beach cities of Santa Monica and Venice, California (the drummer's from the Valley). "It's like we're remembering music," explains singer Kris Hutson of the band's rickety and charred sound. The group runs on old and new world juxtapositions, a little like a biodiesel-fueled jalopy would.…read more by Mark Paytress • Originally published in The Guardian, 30 October 2002 It is five years since Jeff Buckley took his final, mid-evening stroll into the Wolf River, a sleepy tourist spot on the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. Fully clothed and still wearing his combat boots, he splashed around happily, singing out lines from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” The idyll was cruelly curtailed when a menacing undertow from a passing tugboat pulled Buckley under.…read more Recently in Feature Stories Recently in Classic Vantage
by Matt Gewolb • Odetta transcended music, employing her full and powerful voice in the name of racial equality. ...read moreby Bob Hill • Only a pair of Nashville DJs didn’t see it that way. And apparently, that was all it took to turn Steve Earle into the social equivalent of France. ...read moreby C!-Team • Dead in the heart of winter we are, but despite the bygone holidays and chilling temperatures nationwide, some of our favorite bands still took to the road. ...read moreby Dinky Dawson • “Bloody hell,” I thought, looking up from putting an amp into a case. “What’s going on?” Suddenly, the warehouse was filled with police, waving automatic weapons ...read more
Take the heavy metal of Sabbath, mix that with precise, well-timed hints of classic hardcore, thrash, and punk, and you’ve got the cult heroes of the metal underground, the Oakland-based band High on Fire. If you want it heavy, they’ve got that to give. If you want it heavier, they’ve got that to give too! Tight, fast, psychedelic jamming? Yep. Ear-blistering riffs? Well, of course. It’s all here and all by way of vocalist/guitarist/founder Matt Pike’s hoarse, powerfully...read more by James Greene, Jr."the only stellar element of the 10th Damned full-length is its novelty mirror cover"...read more by j. poet"down and dirty blues delivered with plenty of attitude and a devil-may-care energy"...read more by Denise Sullivan"they've transcended generational appeal and genre labels in a way that few other bands have"...read more by j. poet"a study in contradictions... their approach is anything but traditional"...read more by Angela Zimmerman"stoked from the ashes of rock ‘n’ roll’s bygone golden psychedelic pop age"...read more Spinal Tap
June 1, 1992
Warfield Theatre, San Francisco
Photography by Steve Jennings It’s generally agreed among rock enthusiasts that the genre’s excesses and inherent goofiness have never been better parodied than in the 1984 feature film This Is Spinal Tap, a mockumentary about fictional heavy metal outfit Spinal Tap. The three-piece, as seen left to right in the photo above, features Derek Smalls (played by Harry Shearer), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest). Rob Reiner directed the film, which gave a detailed history of the band’s trials and travails, including their time as the Originals (and, later, the New Originals), and as a “flower power” group with sorta-hit “Listen to the Flower People. Drawing upon the oft absurd stories and spectacle of bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the movie offers more great one-liners than just about any other movie, most famously Nigel’s exclamation that his amps “go to eleven.” Promotional photos of the band (such as this one) were not entirely a joke: Spinal Tap did, in fact, play shows in the years after the movie, including a series of gigs in 1992 and, in 2007, as part of the Live Earth concert series in Europe. |
Daily UpdatesJan 6Best Song Ever Wednesday .jpg "Summerteeth")
It’s debatable which Wilco song is their best, but we’re gonna go ahead and say it’s “I’m Always in Love”, the ebullient pop number at the center of what is perhaps their finest record, 1999’s Summerteeth. Singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy has since taken a more brooding, subdued approach, but here his power-pop ambitions took hold and brought about a song oozing with excitement and anxiety. Love is, in this case, a feeling that quickly, arbitrarily rises and flees. Over a squealing, looped keyboard line, Tweedy’s initially ponderous tone turns eventually toward a desperate refrain: “I’m worried, I’m worried, I’m worried! I’m always in love!” Yikes! The global rock community says goodbye to a punk legend with the passing of Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton. (BBC) Iconic label, Blue Note Records, celebrates its 70th birthday. (Things I'd Rather Be Doing) "Conservative Rock Criticism" is cause for some ridicule; Idolator points out the obvious. (Idolator) The ADD generation finds a way to shrink down a record review. Introducing Musebin. (LA Times) For a brief recap of music industry stories from the holiday break, check out this nifty list. (Hypebot) Noise, an anthology of new, short fiction inspired by Sonic Youth songs (or, perhaps, even just song titles) is set to release today. (Daily Swarm) The RIAA is said to have fired their detective agency, MediaSentry, which is in line with their recent decision to stop filing mass lawsuits against people suspected of filesharing illegally. (Idolator) Bruce Springsteen is offering free downloads through Amazon.com and "Guitar Hero" in the run-up to Working on a Dream, his next studio album to hit the streets on Jan. 27th. (Billboard) More tough times for Kraftwerk... co-founder Florian Schneider leaves after 40 years with the band. (Daily Swarm) Outlaw country music legend Merle Haggard beats lung cancer, still performing shows at 71. (Reuters) Courtney Love's new album to be sponsored, awesomely so, by a brand of tequilla and a "menstrual" company. (Guardian) “In the cold, the czar's claimin'
Just protectin', rockets aimin'
Alteration, the earth is changin'
Observation, we want action” - The Germs, “Forming” January 7, 1970 Max Yasgur, host of the original Woodstock festival about six months earlier, was sued for $35,000 in property damages by neighboring farmers. January 7th: 1948: Kenny Loggins
1959: Kathy Valentine (Go-Gos) Look up "doom metal" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Sunn 0))), who can also be seen in this 2006 live video from Berlin.
|
