Pop Noise

Green Day to re-record '21 Guns' with ... some people

2009-11-20T15:30:00Z

Why would Green Day record a new version of "21 Guns" with the American Idol cast?

That was my first thought when I mis-read this particular piece of news.

What the release really said is that Green Day is in the studio this week recording with the "American Idiot" cast, which has been performing the stage version at Berkeley Rep since early September.

Billie Joe Armstrong is producing the track, which will hit radio at the end of November, with a video to follow.

"21 Guns" is the second single from Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown," which wasn't nearly as good as "American Idiot," imho.

Come to think of it, the concept of a Green Day stage production isn't all that more bizarre than them recording with the American Idol cast.

By the way, Green will be on the American Music Awards Sunday night.

Nick Jonas unveils his Administration

2009-11-18T18:25:00Z

It looks like Nick Jonas is making his move.

The 17-year-old hearthrob from the Jonas Brothers will debut his side project, Nick Jonas & the Administration, on prime-time during the Grammy announcement show on CBS Dec. 2

The Administration features drummer Michael Bland, keyboardist Tommy Barbarella and guitarist David Ryan Harris.

Obviously Jonas to think about a future beyond the JoBros to be more like Justin Timberlake than Nick Carter. He explains it to USA Today like this "I had written five or six songs that were on my heart, things that were just pouring out of me with this new and exciting sound. They weren't necessarily right for the Jonas Brothers, but I thought they could be perfect for something else. It's a cross between my roots in R&B and soul with a kind of rock/pop music behind it."

R&B/soul meets rock/pop -- how exactly is that different than the Jonas Brothers?

Peter Gabriel preps adventurous covers project

2009-11-13T15:15:00Z

When Peter Gabriel strolls to the podium with Genesis to accept his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March -- it's gotta happen, right? -- the singer will have a new album to promote, called "Scratch My Back."

This is an offbeat project for Gabriel, who has been a huge influence on the indie-rock scene in recent years, from TV on the Radio to Vampire Weekend to the Arcade Fire.

"Scratch My Back," reports NME, will be the first in a series of cover albums featuring songs by David Bowie, Pa

ul Simon, the Arcade Fire, Radiohead and more.

It's part of a "song-swap project" so those bands will be covering Gabriel songs as well. The twist is that rather than guitars and drums, he will be backed by orchestral instruments.

Sounds a bit risky, but we can trust Peter, and lord knows he can sing.

Here is the track list:

Scratch My Back:
01 Heroes (David Bowie cover)

02 The Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon cover)

03 Mirrorball (Elbow cover)

04 Flume (Bon Iver cover)

05 Listening Wind (Talking Heads cover)

06 The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed cover)

07 My Body Is a Cage (Arcade Fire cover)

08 The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields cover)

09 I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Randy Newman cover)

10 Après Moi (Regina Spektor cover)

11 Philadelphia (Neil Young cover)

12 Street Spirit (Radiohead cover)

The Who to play Super Bowl halftime?

2009-11-12T19:28:00Z

Ever since the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, the Super Bowl halftime has turned into 12 minutes of geezer rock -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- with McCartney, the Stones, Petty, Springsteen, etc.

SI.com reports that next up is the Who, which, of course, is down to two members: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.

If people thought those other folks look old, wait till they get a look at Townshend trying to do scissor kicks.

I have the utmost respect for The Who, and I'm sure they'll be great, but they wouldn't be my first pick among classic rockers -- in part because they haven't done anything relevant in a long time.

Actually, I was kind of hoping for ZZ Top because they've been a little under the radar the past several years -- having to open for Aerosmith -- and they were a blast this summer and still bring it 100 percent.

Deadhead Christmas wish: Dead-Opoly

2009-11-12T17:38:00Z

You don't go to jail, you get thrown Off the Bus.

And you don't buy Marvin Gardens, you buy Terrapin Station.

It's a concept no one could have dreamed of in the late '60s": Grateful Dead-Opoly.

It will be the board game of choice for the Deadhead in the family this holiday season. It was created for Discovery Bay Games by music industry veteran and longtime Grateful Dead associate Debbie Gold, with artwork by comic book illustrator Timothy Truman. Bob Weir, founding member of the Grateful Dead, and legendary roadie Steve Parish also contributed.

The game play is a tour with the band, with tokens that include a guitar, drum, amp, a tour bus and Bob Weir's dog, Otis, and the properties are Dead albums.

Sounds like a nice low-tech alternative to Beatles Rock Band, something boomers can actually play!

Harper Simon: Not as advertised at the Warhol

2009-11-12T14:30:00Z

It would be too strong to say that Harper Simon's gorgeous debut album is false advertising for his live shows, but anyone expecting him to sound like the record was probably disappointed Wednesday night at the Andy Warhol Museum.

Simon's debut sounds like a long-lost solo album by his father Paul, with flowing melodies, poetic lyrics and Harper's breezy delivery. But that polish wasn't there, maybe because the 37-year-old Simon, who came up through punk bands, isn't really interested in it. At the Warhol, his vocals were more mushy and slurred, obscuring some of the lyrics, and he seemed more eager to get through them and on to the Grateful Dead-like jams that ended many of the songs. Unlike his dad, Harper is an adventurous lead player and drove his talented band into some raggedly beautiful jams, not unlike Ryan Adams does.

As a frontman, he didn't do much to endear himself to the crowd of about 60 quiet people. Between songs he kept asking them to take the lights down, to the point where he was almost playing in the dark. He joked that he would love to have a single blue light, like being in a hotel room on meth.

Along with songs from the debut, Harper squeezed in a slow, druggy cover of The Cure's "In Between Days" and then, just when you thought he really wasn't having much fun, he asked the soundboard if he had time for one more song. It ended up being a nod to Warhol, a cool, droning cover of the Velvet Underground's "All Tomorrow's Parties" that the band may have worked up during the soundcheck.

Paul is notorious for being a perfectionist, both in the studio and on stage. Harper showed last night that he didn't get that gene. Then again, at least he's doing his own thing.

Grammys to be announced on Dec. 2 live show

2009-11-11T17:51:00Z

The 52st Grammy nominations will be announced on CBS Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 9 p.m. with a broadcast called "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! - Countdown To Music's Biggest Night."

Former Grammy winners Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell and Sugarland will perform live from Club Nokia in LA.

This is the second year the nominations have been announced live. The awards show will be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 31.

So, let's see. Possible Album of the Year selections (based on Grammy taste):

Black Eyed Peas

Jay-Z

Taylor Swift

Michael Buble

Rosanne Cash

Barbra Streisand

Album of the Decade: What's your pick?

2009-11-10T18:05:00Z

As I was clicking onto Pitchfork's top 20 albums of the decade it struck me how obvious No. 1 was going to be.

It was an album that came out just over nine years ago (Oct. 2, 2000): Radiohead's "Kid A."

As someone who wore out his copy of "OK Computer," I remember my initial disappointment in the band's departure from guitar rock into something so dark, blippy and disjointed. It was Thom Yorke saying, "Here, Coldplay, try this!" It was hardly a fun record to listen to, but it did set a sonic tone for the decade and obviously, it was a very intellectual enterprise.

Pitchfork nails down the reasons for the selection, writing that "Kid A" conjures, "Thoughts about millennial techno-dread; fragmentation, broken transmissions, garbled communication; the feeling of helplessness that comes from having access to so much information about the world while not having the power to change any of it; the subtle and dramatic ways that electronics are altering our landscape and our consciousness."

There were a number of albums in the Top 20 that I spent more time listening to than "Kid A" just because they were more enjoyable, like Jay-Z's "The Blueprint," Wilco's "Yankee Foxtrot Hotel," The Strokes' "This is It" and even The Arcade Fire's "Funeral." I loved that one right away -- have no desire to hear it anymore.

My question to you: Are you feeling any of those as the Album of the 00s?

What would be your pick?

The end of Aerosmith?

2009-11-09T20:14:00Z

Update: Steven Tyler jumped onstage with Joe Perry in New York last night for "Walk This Way" and said he's still in the band.

The writing was on the wall this summer that Aerosmith was running out of steam.

For starters, the band couldn't finish a new album because of the various Steven Tyler/Joe Perry surgeries. Then, on tour, while ZZ Top ran like a smooth machine, Aerosmith had two members drop off before Tyler dropped off the stage in South Dakota, ending the tour in August.

Now comes the bombshell: Tyler appears to have quit the band.

Perry told the Las Vegas Sun, "Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don't know anymore than you do about it." (Which is clearly not the way a tight, longtime band is supposed to function.)

Perry was responding to Tyler telling Classic Rock magazine, a British publication, that he was turning toward a solo career and would be working on "Brand Tyler." Perry added that Tyler wasn't answering his calls: "He's notorious for that. That's one thing I've learned to live with. I try to overlook it."

The way things have flip-flopped between Tyler and Perry for decades, we probably haven't seen the last of them. But after what happened this summer, it makes sense to put Aerosmith on the Rocks for a while.

As for Brand Tyler, he's 61. It's a bit late in the game for that. Isn't it?

Jay-Z at the Arena ... he likes us?

2009-11-06T20:20:00Z

It was looking like we weren't going to see Live Nation around these parts until summer came along.

But the promoter, which does no club bookings in Pittsburgh and often steers clear of the market in the off-season, is jumping back in early with Jay-Z and Young Jeezy at the Mellon Arena on March 16. Tickets are going on sale at www.LiveNation.com on Nov. 13.

This is the kind of tour that's been skipping Pittsburgh for years, so it's surprising to see Jay-Z add us on the second leg. The last time Hova (can I call him that?) was here was five years or so ago at the Star Lake Amphitheatre, so it was beginning to look like he had something against us.

Perhaps if this show does well, we'll see more like it. Beyonce, Kanye, Mary J. Blige, Madonna ... they've all skipped the market on recent tours, making Pittsburgh look all the more like a classic rock town.