Jan 29 2009
The story we ran on The Pop Rocks video for "Heartbreakers," the Steelers tribute, had people contacting us about trying to book the band, make T-shirts for them and design Web sites.
The Pop Rocks are a true, homemade phenomenon.
In the past week, the Pop Rocks youtube page has gone from 56,000 hits to nearly 500,000 with 1,200 comments, most of them raving about the band, particularly the amazing vocals of 12-year-old Courtney Brown from Slippery Rock.
Now, the song is available for download on their myspace page. Proceeds from the sales will go to Children's Hospital Free Care Fund.
The Pop Rocks are a pre-teen band formed at the Davis School of Guitar Performance in Harmony, Beaver County.
To see the video, go to The Pop Rocks Heartbreakers.
Jan 26 2009
The Grammys always seem to be striving for relevancy and legitimacy.
This should help:
Radiohead - considered by many to be the most important band for the last decade - will make its first U.S. television performance since 2000 at the 51st Grammy Awards on Feb. 8. The innovative British band is nominated for Album Of The Year and Best Alternative Album for "In Rainbows," a record originally launched as pay-as-please download.
Also added to the lineup are Paul McCartney with special guest drummer Dave Grohl, of the Foo Fighters), T.I. with Justin Timberlake, and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West.
Previously announced were Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, Kenny Chesney, Lil Wayne and Coldplay.
Yep, Coldplay. The band that took a few liberties with Radiohead's sound. They're also nominated for Album of the Year, but Lil Wayne is seen as the early favorite. Oh, the intrigue.
Jan 21 2009
There have been a bunch of lists so far of albums to look forward to in 2009 and they're filled with big names:
- Bruce Springsteen, "Working on a Dream" (Jan. 27)
- U2, "No Line on the Horizon" (March 3)
- Lily Allen, "It's Not Me, It's You" (Feb. 10)
- Kelly Clarkson (March 17)
- New albums in the spring from Green Day, Eminem, Jay-Z, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, at some point, Wilco and Sonic Youth.
These will all be big events, but one I'm looking forward to just as much or more comes from a much smaller name: Jason Lytle.
Lytle is the former frontman of the late Grandaddy, the atmospheric indie-rock band that bailed out in early 2006 with a fourth album, "Just Like the Fambly Cat."
Lytle, who tends to obsess about robots and what technology is doing to us, hasn't made much noise in the last three years (apparently, he's on the new M. Ward record "Hold Time"). He returns May 19 with "Yours Truly, the Commuter," described by his new label, Epitath, as "dreamy soundscapes [that] mirror the dramatic environment of Lytle's newly-adopted Montana."
His previous dreamscapes mirrored the less dramatic environment of Modesto, Calif., and did so beautifully, especially on 2000's "The Sophtware Slump" and 2003's "Sumday," two CDs I practically wore out (in fact, I'm going to listen to them right now).
The opening lines of the first song on the new album are "I may be limping, but I'm coming home."
Can't wait to hear the rest.
Here is the track list:
1. Yours Truly, The Commuter
2. Brand New Sun
3. Ghost Of My Old Dog
4. I Am Lost (And The Moment Cannot Last)
5. Birds Encouraged Him
6. It's The Weekend
7. Fürget It
8. This Song Is The Mute Button
9. Rollin' Home Alone
10. You're Too Gone
11. Flying Thru Canyons
12. Here For Good
Jan 21 2009
Picture this Feb. 1 scenario...The Steelers and Bruce Springsteen at the Super Bowl.
There would be a serious danger of Pittsburghers like myself thinking they died and went to heaven. Because heaven, along with angels on clouds and stuff, will have to have some Steelers and some Boss to be heaven.
I blogged that back in September when it was announced Bruce would play Super Bowl XLIII and now it's all come to pass.
So, next week we get the ecstasy and tension of the Steelers in the Super Bowl broken up by three or four songs from the Boss with the E Street Band.
Let's hope he's smart and self-aware enough to keep the focus on the old stuff, because early fears about the single and title track, "Working on a Dream," seem to be panning out.
The reviews are coming in -- and they're not good.
Paste writes, "God only knows what led to this New Jersey Transit train wreck.... [this] time Bruce forgot the tunes, the hooks, and the lyrics, and he mistakes the usual first-rate songs about common men and women for common songs about Bruce."
The Associated Press writes, "Springsteen says he wrote these songs quickly, and it shows. The rich characters who populate his best work are largely missing, and instead he rocks out to simple sentiments built on first- and second-person pronouns."
Not too worried about the pronouns, but the tunes, the hooks and lyrics could be a problem.
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Jan 19 2009
The Pittsburgh music scene did The Who proud Saturday at Howler's with bands putting their own touches on the classic band's songs, from Devilish Merry's "Happy Jack" to The Huh's "My Generation" to eD fROM oHIO's "Who Are You."
What it needed, though, was something to put it over the top.
Enter Tommy.
The show organizer and biggest Who freak in the room - emphasis on freak - Tommy Amoeba spent a good bit of the night working the door in a black biker jacket.
When his band, Amoeba Knievel, got the call, a sheet fell to reveal Amoeba dressed as ... a Christmas tree? Yes, he wore a lighted Christmas tree and played a Fisher Price toy to launch an abridged, gender-bending version of "Tommy," starting with the Amoeba singing, "It's a girl, Mrs. Walker."
We use the word singing rather liberally here, as this Tommy seemed more like Daltrey having a convulsion, but it rocked and the band was cooking, sounding as much or more like The Who as any band on the night. For "Pinball Wizard," the Amoeba, now bouncing one of those big silver yoga balls, defoliated into a skin-tight pink polka-dot romper with a rainbow afro.
When you can match the weirdness of "Tommy," that's really saying something.
After a "We're Not Gonna Take It" that took us to the mountain top, the Amoeba climaxed the set the way Pete Townshend would - by smashing a guitar.
Part loving tribute. Part performance art. Part freak show. Entirely unforgettable.
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Photo by Larry Rippel (www.larryrippel.com/)
Jan 16 2009
Here's hoping it gets better than the title track...
The new Bruce Springsteen album, "Working on a Dream," hits the streets on Jan. 27 (a few days before his Super Bowl appearance), but NPR Music (www.NPR.org/music) will give fans an "Exclusive First Listen" by streaming it on Monday, Jan. 19, beginning at 11:59 p.m.
So far, I've only heard the title track, which sounds more like Springsteen in a rush to release something rather than the man truly inspired. In fact, it's the most pedestrian-sounding thing he's done in years. But, as we all know with Bruce, you can't judge the album by one track.
Along with the Boss, NPR Music is also offering first listens to M. Ward's "Hold Time" and Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion the same time. It will also be the only radio broadcaster of "We Are One: The Obama Inauguration Celebration at The Lincoln Memorial," the opening celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m.
***
In other music news, all the old dudes are getting back together.
Mott the Hoople will celebrate its 40th anniversary with the first show by the original lineup in 35 years!
The British glam band - Ian Hunter, Verden Allen, Dale Griffin, Overend Watts and Mick Ralphs - gave us such classic songs as "All the Young Dudes," "Roll Away The Stone" and "All The Way From Memphis" and had a hand in spawning the punk generation.
The shows will be Oct. 2-3 at The Hammersmith Apollo (now the HMV Apollo), where they recorded "Mott The Hoople Live' in 1973.
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Jan 15 2009
With the Record Rama Archive sitting in a basement warehouse in Ross collecting dust, a documentary short called "The Archive" will screen at the Sundance Film Festival.
Directed by Sean Dunne, it visits with retired collector Paul Mawhinney, suffering from diabetes and legally blind, lamenting that people "don't give a damn" about the music anymore. It's a dramatic short that ends with a choked-up Mawhinney listening to the song "Music was My First Love" as the fluorescent lights are switched off in the store.
The store has been closed for nearly a year now and, after two unsuccessful ebay auctions, in which he tried to fetch $3 million, the future of this collection of more than two million LPs and 45s is in doubt. The CDs were all sold off to a collector in Philadelphia. The vinyl - the value of which has been debated by collectors - is at risk now, as the 69-year-old Mawhinney can't pay rent on the warehouse forever. He has a lease till the end of the year and hopes to get something done before then.
"We have one serious prospect in Germany, and I'm trying to get him to come to Pittsburgh," agent J. Paul Henderson said today. "But these aren't good times. I've learend the hard way that the problem is not finding people who love music. The problem is the responsibility of owning this collection. It's not like buying a painting where you have your friends over for a beer to admire it. Once you buy the music you have to do something with it."
"The object," Mawhinney says, "is to find a buyer who will keep the collection and database intact for future generations."
"The Archive" can be seen here.
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Jan 14 2009
Ryan Adams is happy as hell and doesn't want to take it anymore.
The mercurial pop star has posted at rambling blog at Cardinal Cave stating that he is ready to take a break from and that his March 20 show in Atlanta will be his last with the Cardinals, the band he started working with in 2005, for the album "Cold Roses."
"atlanta will be my last venture with the band and i am grateful for the time we have had and maybe someday we will have more stories to tell together. i am however ready for quieter times as i think it is very evident i am struggling with some balance and hearing issues."
Adams goes on to write, "these last few years were the hardest i can remember and the most rewarding but i have loved ones to care for now and i am lucky i have been given a chance to turn around and see just what i am capable of as a friend and as someone who is not gone forever every year..."
Adams did five albums with the Cardinals - a band with a serious Grateful Dead vibe - most recently "Cardinology," which debuted at No. 11 on the charts in October and appeared on a number of Top 10 lists.
Adams also played two shows here with the band: Mr. Small's in May of 2005, a fine but oddly paced show during which he got a little patient with the crowd on a piano ballad; and Carnegie Music Hall in October 2007, in which they did a lot of jamming on a darkened stage.
Along with the hearing loss and new love interest, Adams vents in the blog about this frustrations with the perceptions of him: "the 21st century media has it's own rules about what is true and what is not. it is not a life- not one i want to live anyway and i don't really care to participate in narcissistic over-indulgent behavior anymore..."
In his last graph he leaves the door open for the Cardinals, wrting, "maybe we will play again sometime and maybe i will work my way back into some kind of music situation but this is the time for me to step back now, to reel it in and i wish everyone peace and happiness..."
There are those who would say - and I might be among them - that as brilliant as Adams is, a little time away from the stage and studio could be a good way for him to cleanse the palette and come back stronger in the future.
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Jan 13 2009
Indie-rock icons Pavement played one of their most disastrous shows at the Coachella festival in 1999 when frontman Stephen Malkmus either couldn't sing or refused to, turning the whole set into one long instrumental.
It was one of the band's final shows, before fizzling out in 2000.
Now the talk is that Pavement could return to the scene of the crime possibly this summer with a Coachella reunion show. If not in ‘09, maybe the following year.
"I don't see why not, you know, it could be a fun thing to do, go and play your favorite songs every night," Scott Kannberg told Loud And Quiet. "Everything's fine now [between the band members]."
2009 would be the band's 20th anniversary, so it would make sense to most bands to do it then. Pavement, however, doesn't seem like the kind of outfit that would do anything the traditional way.
From what I could tell, the Stockton, Calif., band - which grabbed people's attention with the 1992 debut "Slanted and Enchanted" - played Pittsburgh four times.
The first was Indie Fest at the William Pitt Union with three other bands including Mecca Normal in 1993. There was a 1994 show at City Limits in Penn Hills, just after "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" came out.
That second album, one of the band's best, stirred up hostilities with Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots when on the song ‘'Range Life," those bands were derided as "nature kids" and "elegant bachelors," respectively.
Drummer Bob Nastanovich explained to the PG: " ‘Range Life' is about a kid who's just starting to buy records and get into music. He's a 14-year-old who's trying to figure out what he likes. He goes home, flips on the television and these are the first two videos that come on. And he goes, ‘uh, I can't get into this.' That's the sentiment of the song, really." (Another version of the story is that it was from the perspective of an aging hippie.)
That year, Lollapalooza headliners Smashing Pumpkins announced they wouldn't play if Pavement was on the bill.
Pavement did jump onto the summer festival a year later in 1995, and probably shouldn't have, as they didn't pack the kind of punch of the other headliners Sonic Youth, Hole and Cypress Hill. I remember the band's set at Star Lake being a bit of sloppy mess.
In West Virginia, Pavement had to stop its set after being pelted by mud pies. In a youtube video from that day, SY's Thurston Moore explains, "You just sort of had lunkheads throwing stuff at this band that weren't playing sort-of-like instantly recognizable mosh riffs... I don't think they were the kind of band that had any sort of ambition to win over a Lollapalooza audience."
Scott Kannberg says, "Quite frankly, I think it could be the band that effectively did in Lollapalooza ... people should be happy that we played a significant role in the demise of that ridiculous summer event."
Pavement's final Pittsburgh appearance was in 1997 during the "Brighten the Corners" tour at Graffiti, where the intimate indoor setting was much more conducive to the band's quirky approach.
Malkmus has gone on to a pretty creative solo career - venturing deep into jam-rock - but a Pavement revival would certainly be fun.
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Jan 12 2009
On Saturday, I flipped on NBC around midnight to see Taylor Swift doing a rather bland performance on "Saturday Night Live" and wondered - why is Taylor Swift even on "Saturday Night Live"?
Yeah, she's the biggest-selling artist of 2008, but aren't there enough late-night talk and awards shows for her to play?
Shouldn't "SNL" be a little more left-of-the-dial?
Part of show's early reputation was built on throwing something out there that might shock the audience, or at least keep them awake. If you were around in the late '70s, you recall the B-52's hitting the stage like surf-rock aliens on "Rock Lobster," Patti Smith torching the place with "Gloria" and Talking Heads resembling like preppy robots on "Psycho Killer."
That was cutting-edge stuff being exposed to a new audience. Nowadays, it seems like "SNL" just rounds up the biggest mainstream stars.
This week, though, we get something different when the show gives the stage to Fleet Foxes, a bearded Seattle band from Sup Pop that frequented Top 10 lists this year with a debut record that brings CSNY-style harmonies into a new musical context.
At a time when the music industry really needs more new bands breaking out and replacing the old guard, it would be nice to see "SNL" go more in this direction and offset the superstars with contenders from indie-rock and indie hip-hop scenes.
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