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Primus at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1030 15th Street, Suite 100, Sacramento, CA on Sep 14
Menomena at Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Avenue, Seattle, WA on Sep 10
Ratatat at Riviera Night Club, 4746 North Racine Avenue, Chicago, IL on Sep 10
Search results for: Talking Heads
Bachman and Turner: Still Taking Care of Business
Randy Bachman is waxing nostalgic as he looks at the stage of Winnipeg’s Pyramid Cabaret, a small rock club in his hometown. “This was ground zero for Bachman Turner Overdrive,” Bachman says, speed-talking with excitement. He was gearing up for his first gig with Fred Turner and their new Bachman & Turner project, which took place on May 31st. It was the first time he’d played live with Turner, in front of an audience, in almost 20 years and at the time of this interview, which took place just prior to that gig, he was brimming over with restless energy. “We started out here playing in cover bands like a lot of other guys, trying to sneak one or two of our own tunes into the set. If we were really lucky, one or two weeks later someone from the audience might come up to you and say, ‘What was that song you played between “Walk Don’t Run” and “She Loves You” last Thursday?’ We’d get to play it again, and when there was a good crowd reaction, it made us think that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance we could write more originals and start to make a living at this music thing.
“Back in the ‘60s, this place was called the Jade Disco, then the Twilight Zone and a bunch of other names, but it’s always been a rock club, so to us this is hallowed ground, the heart of the rock scene in Winnipeg.”
Their tour kicked off at the Pyramid Cabaret on May 31st before they headed to, as Bachman put it, “a small place in Toronto, then the Relentless Garage, a 500-seaster in London” before hitting the Sweden Rock Festival “to perform in front of 35,000 people.”
Bachman said that he’d had an open invitation to play the Sweden Rock Festival for years, provided he could get Turner to sign on. “Fred said he didn’t want to go on the road as a nostalgia act. He told me he’d only go out if we wrote some new stuff that could stand up to the older tunes. It took a while, but that’s finally happened. We’ll be releasing our new album, called Bachman Turner, in September.
“The pieces started to fall into place a few years ago. I was working on a solo project and decided to invite a few people to guest on the album. I lined up Neil Young, Paul Rodgers, and Jeff Healey, who passed away after doing the tracks, and Fred. I sent [Fred] a song called ‘Rock n’ Roll is the Only Way Out’ and he sent it back to me with a couple of the new tunes he’d been writing. When I heard what his refrigerator-sized voice did to the song, I told him I’d scrap the solo album if he wanted to get together and make a record. And we did.
Before the Hype: Kisses
Welcome to “Before the Hype,” a column where we expose you to unsigned bands and artists who we feel really deserve to be heard.
Meet Kisses, a duo from LA who are steadily building buzz with their brand of new wave inspired, dreamy synth-pop. Kisses is the creation of boyfriend/girlfriend Jesse Kivel and Zinzi Edmundson, and while their output has been sparse, it’s shown a ton of promise. While Edmundson is admittedly new to the music making front, Kivel has been doing it since elementary school, and Kisses, I suppose, could be considered his side project, as the brothers Kivel are the driving force behind Princeton. Lighthearted and whimsical, Kisses’ sound is fits just right for everything from relieving the pressure from a hectic day to being a welcome addition to your party mix.
“People Can Do the Most Amazing of Things” is the latest single from Kisses, and as you could guess from the title, is a track that is both hopeful and soothing in a way that makes you feel that everything’s gonna be all right ’cause whatever you’re going through, you’re not alone. It’s uplifting and relatable without being trite, and the subtle guitar work layered in with drum effects and electro/synth melodies make for quite the catchy hooks. It’ll definitely have you reaching for the repeat button.
“People Can Do The Most Amazing of Things” – Kisses by crawdaddy
“Bermuda”, Kisses’ other single, keeps with the joyous, upbeat melodies. It’s hard not to think of Jens Lekman when hearing “Bermuda”, as it’s got a similar penchant for chimes and tropical cruise-type arrangements. Give yourself to these songs, and you’ll walk away in a better mood.
“Bermuda” – Kisses by crawdaddy
Kisses’ Jesse Kivel was kind enough to share some of his time with us. Check out the interview after the jump.
Brian Eno and David Byrne to Grace the Soundtrack of Wall Street 2
Just as the Oliver Stone directed original Wall Street contained music by the Talking Heads, David Byrne, and Brian Eno, the classic film’s sequel, dubbed Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, will be keeping with tradition by again showcasing music by Eno and Byrne, much of it culled from the quite excellent collaborative album between the two that was released in 2008 called Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. It will also include the Talking Heads track, “This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)”, that was featured in the original Wall Street, along with a few Byrne-only songs and music by composer Craig Armstrong.
The soundtrack is due out on September 21st, and the film, starring Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf, is to be released on September 24th. Check out a few songs that will be on the soundtrack, a trailer for the film, and the tracklist after the jump. Thanks to Exclaim! for the tip!
Before the Hype: Cotton Mouth
Welcome to “Before the Hype,” a column where we expose you to unsigned bands and artists who we feel really deserve to be heard.
It’s that time again where we scour the net for quality tunes the record labels have yet to discover. In this installment, we stumbled upon Montreal band Cotton Mouth. Cotton Mouth started out as the relatively new project from frontman Martin Horn before the band was filled out by members of fellow indie rock compatriot Parlovr. Cotton Mouth has a couple EPs worth of material and is currently working towards the release their debut full length.
To give you a sense of their sound, take a listen to “Black Hand” and “Watch the Street.” They’ve got a David Byrne meets Apologies to Queen Mary era Wolf Parade vibe; it’s incredibly catchy, and has the capacity to feel both faintly familiar and refreshingly new. While the Cotton Mouth project is still growing and evolving, Horn already has a clear knack for arrangements and skill for crafting songs that just won’t leave your head. Have a listen and hear for yourself.
Black Hand by Cotton Mouth
Watch the Street by Cotton Mouth
Intrigued? You should be. We’ve got the interview and another track after the jump.
Watch David Byrne Pontificate on How Venues Determine Music
This is super interesting. Watch David Byrne talk about how music venues inform a musician’s sound, particularly pertaining to Byrne’s own music and writing music for specific rooms and how it’s a model for creativity. He takes it back to Africa and cathedrals, Bach and Mozart… then on into today and how the digital venue is affecting the creation of music. It’s a very interesting angle, one I never really thought a whole lot about. Check it out.
Lo-Fi Friday: Portastatic Apes Talking Heads Along To “San Andreas”
Mac McCaughan’s little shot-by-shot homage to the Talking Heads in this video is really just an awkwardly hilarious testament to the perfect, artful weirdness of David Byrne, in that Byrne totally pulled it off, whereas Mac just looks like a freak. Of course, Byrne knew his choreographed jerks and spasms were intended to convey the epileptic marionette-like stumblings of modern man, and he had the luxury of twitching and sweating along to the idea’s associated music with all the passion of an innovator. A decade later, Mac was probably just going for — well, “freak.” Part of the hilarity, too, is just how young Mac looks. The Portastatic song was first released on the San Andreas Couch 7″ in ‘94 and re-recorded for inclusion on Slow Note From a Sinking Ship in ‘95, so, sure, we were all a bit younger then, but still: Look at that baby-faced kid in the baggy Black Flag t-shirt! Awww.
Mac was actually in his early twenties then. He recorded about a third of that album (Portastatic’s second) by himself on a Tascam four-track and the rest in Duck Kee Studios just outside Chapel Hill. As for David Byrne, that Talking Heads song was issued as a single in ‘81, so in the video, he was probably in his late twenties, maybe around 30. The original “Once in a Lifetime” video is waiting just after the jump. You know you can’t resist. read more
Senate Candidate Rand Paul Asked to Stop Playing Rush at Rallies
We mentioned it briefly the other day in our Don Henley copyright battle post, but let us elaborate on this particular subject: Kentucky Senate Candidate Rand Paul has been using music by the band Rush at rallies and fundraisers without the band’s permission and has been asked to stop by representatives of the band. Paul’s campaign received a letter from the General Counsel of Anthem Entertainment Group (Rush’s label), notifying the Republican candidate that copyright laws matter, and that he is violating them every time he plays Rush at one of his events. The Rush camp also made it clear that this is not a political issue. “We would do this no matter who it is,” Rush attorney Robert Farmer told the Louisville Courier-Journal. When asked about it, Rand Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton stated, “The background music Dr. Paul has played at events is a non-issue…” Really? Copyright laws do not matter?
Rush is an interesting choice for a candidate who is popular with the crazy-ass tea bagger movement. First off, they are from Canada, not America. And Rush has twice been falsely accused of promoting Satanism—once by the PRMC, and once by a Texas Christian group. However, Rush lyricist and drummer Neil Peart’s interest in Ayn Rand as a young man still has some believing Rush are followers of Rand’s Objectivism, so perhaps therein lies the connection—though Rush remains strongly apolitical.
This Week’s Record Releases: June 1, 2010
Ouch, you guys. Just… ouch. Perhaps there’s an old Dylan record you never got around to buying? Or an old favorite that just won’t stop skipping? Well, now might be a good time to take care of that, because there’s certainly not a whole hell of a lot in the way of new records to buy this week.
Tift Merritt – See You on the Moon
OK, if I were to use actual money to buy an actual record this week, it would be this one. See You on the Moon is the fourth full-length from North Carolina-born country singer Tift Merritt. The story here is that the album features production work by Tucker Martine, whose most notable credits are the decidedly more indie-associated the Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens. It shows, too: See You on the Moon is the first album she’s released that dares to set itself apart from Merritt’s countless pretty-voiced peers. The arrangements are newly elaborate and playful, and there’s a certain grittiness that’s never been present in her work before. She seems to run out of steam (or at least songs) toward the end of the record, though, and things sort of revert back to form. It’s a transitional album for sure, and one that could lead to something wonderful.
Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]
How to Destroy Angels – Self-Titled
See, this one you don’t even have to spend money on: Starting this morning, the self-titled debut EP from How to Destroy Angels, the new band featuring Trent Reznor and his wife Mariqueen Maandig, is available as a free, high-quality download on their website (which we mentioned this morning). I’ve not had too much time to spend with it, of course, but from what I’ve gathered so far, it is what you thought it would be: Dark, electronically enhanced, and very serious—the type of bedroom industrial stuff Reznor’s been at forever. There are moments that are borderline enjoyable: “The Space in Between” is pleasant enough in its grumpy atmospherics, and “Fur Lined” is a welcome bit of what one might actually call dance-pop. The rest, though, is laughable. It’s difficult to take seriously an adult who, in the year 2010, thinks it’s OK to whisper “parasite” over and over again into a microphone, in that dopey faux-scary horror movie voice. And yeah, that happens. Song title? “Parasite”, obviously.
Listen: Download EP [at the official website]
Live Show Review: Future Islands at El Rio, San Francisco
Future Islands
May 24th at El Rio, San Francisco
I haven’t really been able to stop listening to or talking about Future Islands’ first full-length, In Evening Air, a synth-pop affair of swaggering lows and bouncy, melodic highs, but I didn’t quite know how their polished record would translate to the stage. So it was with keen interest but guarded expectation that I made my way to the Outer Mission to watch their set supporting local act the Baths on Monday night. The resulting experience was frenzied and unpredictable, exceedingly blowing the lid off any skepticism I may have harbored somewhere that they’d be able to deliver the goods live.
While I struggled on my tiptoes to see over the small mass of people squeezed into the front half of El Rio’s back room, I didn’t need a full, unobstructed view of lead singer Samuel Herring to fall madly in love with his stage presence. The word “theatrical” barely gives credence to the dynamic stage show he bestowed upon us; he is charming but incendiary, working himself into an agitated dance, slapping himself on the face, pumping his arm viciously, gesturing to us operatically, and letting that voice of his go wherever it felt compelled to—it has a life of its own. His vocals get falsetto and glam at times (you can hear the Bowie influence there) and he can also soften to sing a cryptic, kooky love song, but it’s a snarl that he really unfurls, guttural but wheedling, if you can imagine that.
Live Show Review: Phish at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley
by: Brian Denesia
Phish
August 5th – 7th at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley
With a backdrop of city lights and Greek pillars, Phish embarked on the second leg of their summer tour this past weekend. With anticipation budding, fans lined up as early at 12noon on Thursday to find a good spot to rock. The first night was fairly straightforward, without Phish delving into the long, extended jams they are known for. They really showed their ability to play a rock show with highlights like “Divided Sky” and “Funky Bitch”, and when Trey Anastasio threw out a “How about this venue?” it took the energy level up a notch.
During second set, “Maze”, backed by a killer light display, along with “Down With Disease”, “Free”, “Tweezer”, and “Fluffhead” provided a taste of what was to come the rest of the weekend. Before closing the night down, Trey gave props to Paul Languedoc, longtime Phish sound engineer and the mastermind behind Trey’s new electric guitar, before ending with “Tweezer Reprise” and a cover of the Stones’ “Loving Cup.”
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by: Brian Denesia
published: August 10, 2010
in column: It Shows, Reviews, What Goes On
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