Oasis

A finales de Agosto conocimos la noticia de que Noel Gallagher abandonaba Oasis por la mala relación que tenía con su hermano Liam. Desde entonces, mucho se ha especulado sobre el futuro del grupo y de los componentes.

Ahora comenzamos a conocer las verdaderas intenciones de los miembros de una banda y, por desgracia, de momento apuntan a caminos separados. Oasis no continuará sin la guitarra de Noel como se había dicho y, hasta el momento, parece que no volveremos a disfrutar de nuevos trabajos del grupo.

Noel Gallagher ha confirmado el inicio de su carrera en solitario, aunque no creo que le sorprenda a nadie dado que era el principal compositor de la banda, Oasis se ha perdido, pero su talento para componer sigue vivo. Si esto es así, ¿le dedicará alguna canción a su hermano o a la banda quizás? o ¿preferirá no hacer referencias al pasado?.

Por otro lado, también conocemos las intenciones de Liam Gallagher. Quiere formar una nueva banda, considera que aún tiene mucha música dentro de él y que prefiere tocar con un grupo que comenzar una carrera en solitario.

Andy Bell, el último bajista que tuvo Oasis, se encuentra ya grabando su segundo álbum en solitario como dicta su página web. Para este nuevo disco se supone que contará con colaboraciones como las de Perry Farrel de Jane’s Addiction y Kate Pierson de The B-52s’.

De Gem Archer (guitarra) y Chris Sharrock (batería) todavía no tenemos nada confirmado, pero es más que probable, como apuntan distintos medios de comunicación, que acaben dentro del nuevo proyecto de Liam (en el que empezará a trabajar en Enero y que posiblemente también cuente con Andy Bell).

Veremos qué depara el futuro, sigo pensando que volveremos a verlos juntos en un futuro como las ‘tropecientas’ veces que se separaron antes.

Ann Magnuson; image courtesy of papermag.com

When I originally started thinking about artists who might expand the definition of what a diva is, the first person who came to mind was the subject of this post. Who else but a diva could be seen in concert halls and magazines as well as museum exhibits, obscure sitcoms, and cultish b-movies? Campy, profane, versed in popular culture, obsessed with the fragmented nature of female personae, and tailed by a devoted audience, Magnuson definitely seems to meet the requirements of being diva.

Like Wynne Greenwood (aka Tracy + the Plastics), Magnuson made a name for herself through the available art scene, specifically by managing Club 57 in the East Village during the early 1980s. At the time, Club 57 — which originally claimed its residence in a church basement — was a burgeoning scene comprised of folks like Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, the B-52s, Klaus Nomi, and Fab Five Freddy. Magnuson and her patrons were obsessed with the radioactive kitsch of their Cold War-era adolescence and she would often arrange theme nights like day-glo erotic art show and Elvis Presley hootenannies or turn the venue into a putt-putt golf or a tiki lounge. During this time, she also became a part of Pulsallama, a percussion-based girl group that Magnuson thought of as an anti-band rebelling against the “fashionable primitivism” Malcolm McLaren was espousing with Bow Wow Wow, who he was managing (re: manipulating) at the time. Magnuson had left the group by the time they made “The Devil Lives in My Husband’s Body,” but you can get a good sense of what they were about in the music video below.

A key trait for any diva to me seems to be the ability to inhabit various roles, sometimes in opposition to one another, through performance. Folks might be quick to offer up a better-known pop icons like Madonna, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé, but let’s not forget Magnuson who often differed from these women by using her chameleon-like ability to create characters that poked fun at female stereotypes, materialism, confessionalism, and the hollowness of fame. Pairing up with Tom Rubnitz, she put together “Made for Television” in 1981 for PBS’s Alive From Off Center. The 15-minute piece, which simulates late-night channel surfing, features believeable send-ups of televangelism, soap operas, and game shows with Magnuson playing all the parts. Particularly with regard to how hollow and alienating our collective fixation of fame can be, it reminds me of Eileen Maxson’s “Lost Broadcasts,” which depicts the artist as a reality show hopeful whose staggeringly candid audition tape is being fast-forwarded and talked over by a disinterested casting agent fielding a phone call.

I cannot locate ”Made For Television” online, but I have seen it in exhibition. If you hear about it coming to your town, I suggest you see it. If you find it on the Interwebz, share with the group.

In the mid-1980s, Magnuson got together with Mark Kramer to form Bongwater, a band where this kind of performance was all too common.   

Ever the actress, she would off-set duties with Bongwater with turns in the ABC Jamie Lee Curtis/Richard Lewis sitcom Anything But Love, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, and The Hunger as well as Susan Seidelman’s beloved Desperately Seeking Susan and Making Mr. Right (which totally looks like a movie I should see).

In 1995, Magnuson released her first solo album, The Luv Show, which was apparently inspired by the mad-cap narratives, sex-crazed vixens, and pop-art shine of Russ Meyer movies. It certainly explains the cover, though no explanation needs to be given for songs like “Miss Pussy Pants.”

Ann Magnuson, ever the saucy minx; image courtesy of salon.com

While Magnuson was never going to be a mainstream talent, it’s heartening to know that our media culture had room for a smart, cheeky lady all too willing to represent in the margins. Actually, they still seem to have the room for her, as Magnuson released her second solo album Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories in 2006, embarks on cabaret tours, and does occasional film work. More importantly, Magnuson seems all too willing to deconstruct the very idea of the diva, who she is, who she pretends to be, who she represents, and where her markers of identity blur and splinter. She might be Cindy Sherman’s kind of diva. She’s definitely my kind of diva.

Os The B-52’s são uma banda norte-americana de rock e new wave, formada em 1976, em Athens, por Kate Pierson (vocais), Cindy Wilson (vocais), Fred Schneider (vocais), Ricky Wilson (guitarra) e Keith Strickland (bateria).

“Whammy!” é o título do terceiro álbum da banda norte-americana The B-52’s, lançado em 1983.

DOWNLOAD

Foto: Roberto Sena

Cartaz publicitário em ponto de ônibus da Madrid.

Ligando a televisão ou andando pelas ruas de Madrid já é possível sentir a presença do Rock in Rio Madrid. O evento é um sucesso no Brasil, e de 2004 pra cá fincou os pés em solo europeu, com três eventos em Lisboa, primeira cidade fora do Brasil, e em Madrid, no ano passado.

Na primeira edição, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, nomes como Queen, The Go-Go’s, The B-52’s, AC/DC , Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne , Rod Stewart,Ozzy Osbourne, Rita Lee, Moraes Moreira e Os Paralamas do Sucesso marcaram presença, e de lá pra cá tornou-se um dos maiores festivais do mundo no gênero . Vale lembrar também que foi o ano em que o ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, tornando-se sua primeira aparição na América Latina.

Roberto Medina durante campanha do Rock in Rio Lisboa.

No entanto pouca gente sabe que quem está por traz desse grandioso espetáculo musical. Pois é, pra quem é conhecedor da história da propaganda brasileira o nome Roberto Medina não lhe soa estranho. Na década de 1980 fez muito sucesso criando campanhas marcantes através de sua agência, a Artplan, posicionando-se entre

Como se ainda não fosse o bastante Roberto criou a Dream Factory, que nasceu da necessidade de desenvolver o potencial da Artplan para a realização de eventos, e a mesma ainda se multiplicou, criando a Dream Factory Digital e Dream Factory Sports. Na lista de clientes estão empresas como Bradesco Seguros, Coca-Cola, Telefônica, Oi e Natura, entre outros. Enfim, já era de esperar que um grande evento como o Rock in Rio tivesse um grande nome por trás, um empreendedor, um publicitário, um empresário, tudo incorporado numa única pessoal, ou seja, Roberto Medina.

Campanha exibida na televisão.

Keith Strickland, American multi-instrumentalist with B-52’s

Today’s post is dedicated to Paige Jones, a 14-year-old girl who requested to smash garden gnomes
with a bass guitar for a charity while recovering from jaw surgery (thanks to Evan for sharing the news item). Dressed as AC/DC’s Angus Young. Something tells me that the late, great Dusty Springfield, who used to smash glass objects before and after performances, would appreciate this. Jones’s mum may find her strange, but I hope she considers it a source of pride. I’d gladly buy this girl a gnome and then stand back and watch her do damage.

Perhaps a stretch, but Jones reminds me of the English post-punk women and girls I adore. A big watershed moment as a music geek was discovering post-punk. Not so coincidentally, a big feminist moment for me was discovering many of the women involved with it. I’ve mentioned folks like Pat Place and Cynthia Sley of Bush Tetras earlier. I recently highlighted The B-52s, though did not explicitly discuss vocalists Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, two of my favorite Southern girls — perhaps necessitating their own post wherein I might also fold in Pylon’s Vanessa Briscoe Hay, a fellow Athens resident. Today, amid this deliciously gloomy weather, I thought I’d bring up a few a couple of noteworthy post-punk birds on the other side of the Atlantic.

One thing that may misinform people’s of England’s gynocentric contributions to post-punk was that it was anti-sex. I think that two things may have shaped this misconception: 1) those proper British women and girls, some of whom went to university, couldn’t have possibly wanted to get laid, and 2) some of the female musicians associated with it were/gay (particularly Lesley Woods, The Au Pairs’s way-rad/ical frontwoman). And if we know our chauvinism, we can easily apply the feminism = man-hating = lesbianism = anti-sex equation. Bra-fucking-vo, patriarchy.

Oh, there’s one other thing that I think made British women and girls involved with post-punk considered asexual, if not hostile toward the zesty enterprise (to use the parlance of Maude Lebowski). To put it bluntly, they were not considered sexy, at least not in the normative, telegenic sense. Too plain, too normal, not Debbie Harry enough (perhaps missing the commentary the Blondie frontwoman was making on the homogenization and commodification of normative female beauty).

But that doesn’t mean they weren’t interested in sex or sexy. It just wasn’t the only thing they were interested in and the only way they knew how to project themselves. They were also interested in art, politics, nuclear fall-out, disco, bass lines, menstruation, feminism, body odor, and many other issues at the fore or at the margins of their work. So I thought I’d highlight some acts I think were super-important in shaping British post-punk.

The Au Pairs performing “Come Again,” featured in the music documentary, Urgh! A Music War.

Delta 5 performing “Anticipation” on Top of the Pops. Mind your own business with this Leeds quintet, or, as Simon Reynolds noted in Rip It Up and Start Again, bassist Bethan Peters might slam your face against a wall. Especially if you’re a member of the National Front.

Penetration performing “Lovers of Outrage” at the Reading Festival in 1978. Lead singer Pauline Murray got her start following The Sex Pistols, recorded briefly as a member of The Invisible Girls, and was hugely influenced by Patti Smith.

Young Marble Giants’ “real girl” lead singer Alison Statton avoids eye contact during a BBC performance of “Wurlitzer Jukebox”, inspiring thousands of other indie rock vocalists for generations to come. The band still performs intermittently, though not usually making eye contact.

Fan-made Ludus music video for “Mutilate.” It’s a little hard to find footage of the band’s infamous performances, but not as hard to find singer Linder Sterling’s art.

Hopefully, generations of strange girls will carry on in their messy, funky spirit, whether it be plugging in a guitar, or using it to smash a garden gnome.

Contemporary indie music falls into many categories.  But perhaps the most recognizably “indie” songs contain guitar, keyboard riffs, and male/female vocals (including generous portions of ooos, ahhhs, and ohhhs.  I was listening to my ipod while laying some interlocking brick, and this lovely old tune came on.  It seems to fit in well with contemporary music.  Considering that The B-52’s were an underground phenomenon before making it big, they seem to fit the mold.

I tried to imagine the group as up-and-comers and what impact they might have on the current scene.  They were willing to be unusual, experimental, and even at times somewhat bad in pursuit of making interesting and fun music.  Apparently Rock Lobster was written and ultimately played on a guitar missing the middle two strings.  Certainly, these days there are many people who also experiment with music.  With the proliferation of the internet it’s possible to be constantly exposed to these folks.  Thus a group like The B-52’s could become one voice among thousands.  Fortunately for them, those thousands didn’t write Love Shack.

So I already admitted that I didn’t actually go to the festival on Sunday.  After standing literally all day on Saturday and getting rained on for most of the day, I ventured out on Sunday to try to find rain boots.  We tried several places and, of course, they were all sold out except for children’s sizes.  At Academy, people were fighting over snow boots.  We had drudged through some of the mud the night before (see pic above – and that was after I’d rinsed them off), and it had apparently gotten much worse.

Unfortunately, there was just no way we were going to hack it.  I was pretty disappointed until I realized that ACL was broadcasting most of the shows I wanted to see anyway on the web.  I hooked up my laptop to our television and we had a full day of music, probably even seeing more shows than we would have at the festival (and protecting my germophobe husband from the rash-giving Dillo Dirt).  So my reviews for Sunday will be of the shows I watched on the web, and if you don’t like it, don’t read it.  Just kidding…read it anyway.  And if you really want to see what I thought of the shows I saw live, then click on my reviews of Friday and Saturday.

Best Veteran Band Performance:

The B-52s

One never knows how a performance from a band like the B-52s is going to play out.  They’re older, they haven’t really had a recent hit, they were playing early in the day…but they pulled it out, giving a great, crowd-pleasing performance.  Yeah, so what if Fred looked bored?  That’s his bag (see pic above!).  Kate and Cindy sounded really smooth, especially on “Roam”, and their performance of it actually made me appreciate how great their vocals mesh together.  It was a solid hour of quirky pop, they had an awesome backdrop on the stage, and that was about all I could ask for.

Performance I Wish I’d Been There For:

Heartless Bastards

Wow…I was blown away by this performance.  It’s been a long time since a singer’s voice really stuck out and grabbed my attention, but Erika Wennerstrom is totally amazing.  Her gruff, whiskey-soaked style works in a number of different ways, and she manages to use it to its fullest, nuanced capabilities.  Not only that; the band is great, turning out crunchy rock tunes with lots of attitude, skill, thought, and stage presence.  The Heartless Bastards performance made me wish I’d been at the festival on Sunday.  I would have loved to have seen it in person.

Worst Veteran Band Performance:

The Toadies

Wow…but not in a good way this time.  The Toadies managed to bore me from dozens of miles away, and the crowd didn’t look too enthused either.  Lead singer, Todd Lewis, can’t hit the creepy notes that made The Toadies famous in the ’90s anymore.  His voice just doesn’t sound the same.  All in all, the band’s generic brand of alternative did not translate into a memorable mid-day festival performance.

Click the jump to see what I thought was the worst show of the festival, and which performance I called “confusing”! 

Worst Show of the Festival, Period:

Passion Pit

Sorry to all the Passion Pit fans out there…I thought this was going to be an interesting show, but I just didn’t get it at all.  Singer Michael Angelakos’ overzealous use of the falsetto drowned out the best aspects of the bands electro-pop beats, and his stage presence seemed all put on.  When the cameras scanned the audiences and I saw mostly tween-age girls, I realized the appeal of the falsetto, and didn’t like it even more.  If I had been at this show, I absolutely would have left a couple of songs in.  I can’t really say why the live performance bugged me so much…I’ve heard their songs on the radio and thought some of them were cool.  But this show just flat out was not good.

Most Satisfying Festival-y Show:

Ben Harper and Relentless7

When you think about going to a festival and seeing a show, this is what you think of.  Ben Harper is an intense, alluring performer and his band hit all the right notes for an early evening performance.  Admittedly, I’m not the biggest Ben Harper record fan in general, but I do think his style is suited perfectly for a festival.  Incredible slide-guitar playing, a genuine quality, and real commitment to performing…what else can you ask for in a festival show?  Excellent is all I can really say.

Most Confusing Performance:

Michael Franti and Spearhead

Before all the people who were actually at this show start lecturing me about “vibe”, let me explain what I mean by confusing.  Basically what I mean is that personally, I found quite a lot of things to like about this set, and also quite a lot of things that I didn’t like at all.  The good: obviously, the musicianship for a world reggae band was top-notch. The bad: it’s just one of my pet peeves about musicians in general that they not take themselves too seriously and there were a couple of spots when Franti veered a little too close to Manu Chao territory for my personal preference.  Some of the lyrics were a little cliché, some of the songs a little too self-satisfied, etc.  Was it a great show?  Absolutely.  I have enormous respect for anyone who can work up a crowd and truly inspire people.  And Franti definitely seemed like a “man of the people”, bringing audience members on the stage and even jumping into the crowd himself.  So, I liked it, but also didn’t care for it as much…hence the title of most confusing show.

So that’s been my ACL review; hope you enjoyed it!  My video, ACL in 10, will be up by the end of the week!  And don’t forget the mad scramble to buy $50 tickets tomorrow!!

As hump day approaches (and I await an inspection from my landlord, which means cleaning the house — props to my partner for mowing our shaggy lawn), I thought I’d kick out some jams. Or rather, highlight some ladies who’ve kicked out other people’s jams, making them their own in the process. I have selected the following covers, all performed in concert by female-only bands, to simulate a rock block on the classics station.

Let’s start it out all tart and British. Here we have The Raincoats covering “Lola” in a concert they performed last month. Originally by The Kinks, the song tells the story about a man being seduced by a transvestite. In their famous revision, however, the pursued is a proper English lady singing as man, adding at least two more levels of queerness.

Next up is Rasputina’s cover of Heart’s “Barracuda,” reminding all of us that cellos can rock just as hard as electric guitars. 

Finally, we close with Sleater-Kinney, a band whose sound was heavily indebted to rock legends like Led Zeppelin and The Who. But they also came of age during new wave’s brief but delicious reign, which is why I wanted to include their cover of The B-52s’ “Rock Lobster.”

And if I had anything to do with programming a classic rock station, early B-52s would totally be on our playlists because a) Ricky Wilson was an awesome guitarist and b) it don’t get more classic than Farfisas, bee-hives, and bikini whales. Bonus points for getting K Records impresario/Beat Happening frontman Calvin Johnson, who is famous for his monotone, to fill in for the considerably less monotone Fred Schneider. Plus, like Heart and The Raincoats, The B-52s are a veteran act who can still dance this mess around, as several ACL festival goers can attest. If given the chance, I have no doubt that S-K still can too.

Zilker Park in Austin, Texas swirls with activity as the park prepares for the Austin City Limits Music Festival 2009. I will be attending the festival for the next three days and will cover the music at the festival. This year’s show promises to be an eventful weekend with a diversity of bands on the lineup, including Pearl Jam, Eek-A-Mouse, Michael Franti and Spearhead, K’naan, Asleep at the Wheel, Citizen Cope, Dave Matthews Band, Bassnectar, the B-52’s, Kings of Leon, Thievery Corporation, Raul Malo, the Levon Helm Band, and the Decembersists.

Here’s the last of my ACL picks for the weekend…have a great Sunday everyone!

12:30 pm

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

The Austin-based band is bound to be huge soon enough, so catch them now at this relatively small performance slot at the festival!

1:00 pm

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

This bayou-style band puts on a kick-ass show and will have the crowd going nuts.

2:00 pm

The B-52s

The famous Athens band is just as delightfully eccentric as ever with their new record.

The rest of the bands, after the jump!

3:00 pm

Heartless Bastards

Excellent rock by another Austin-based band.

4:00 pm

Arctic Monkeys

The crazy-popular British band Arctic Monkeys will play songs off their vastly different third album.

5:00 pm

Passion Pit

Passion Pit offers clever heart-on-sleeve music for your early evening.

6:00 pm

Ben Harper and Relentless7

7:00 pm

Michael Franti and Spearhead

Another good reggae offering by ACL.

8:00 pm

Pearl Jam

Whether or not you like their new music, Pearl Jam will undeniably be worth seeing live.

Liam Finn & Eliza Jane, Won’t Change My Mind
Belle and Sebastian, We Are the Sleepyheads
Be Your Own Pet, Hillmont Avenue
The Clean, Loog
The B-52s, Pump
Benett, Just Because I Liked You (in the Summertime)
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions, For the Rest of Your Life
Bettie Serveert, Unsound
Belly, It’s Not Unusual
Madison Park, Another Yesterday
Beat Happening, I’ve Lost You
Bat for Lashes, Seal Jubilee
Polynya, Mobile
Bangs, Call and Response
Bagheera, Admission/Concession
Box Elders, Stay
Babes in Toyland, Live at the Academy
Asobi Seksu, Before We Fall
Asleep in the Park, Nobody Wants
Azure Ray, We Are Mice
astroPuppees, She Can’t Say No
Polite Sleeper, Driving Ohio
April March, I Just Might Crack
The Apples in Stereo, Stream Running Over
Electric Valentine, Take Your Time
Aroah, La Historia Mas Triste
An Horse, Little Little Little
Divisible, Don’t Say Nothin Now
Anjulie, Boom
Maya Angelou, Calypso Blues
The Dry Spells, Rhiannon
The Anniversary, Never Die Young
Laurie Anderson, The Ouija Board
Vivian Girls, Can’t Get Over You
Angus & Julia Stone, Just a Boy
The Amps, Tipp City
Thee Headliners, Sketch City
Amanda Blank, Might Like You Better
Lily Allen, Everything’s Just Wonderful
All Girl Summer Fun Band, Lipsmacker Kiss
Dido, Take My Hand
Olivia Broadfield, Don’t Let Go
The Rocking Horse Winner, Playing With Lights

It was the 26th of January 1980…. I was a huge fan of Saturday Night Live (it was a dangerous thing that my dad did…putting a TV in my room so I could stay up late at night and watch alternative stuff). I didn’t always pay attention to the band but this night they had this band on that was retro (60’s retro) looking and when they started playing… they sounded retro! I fell in LOVE with the band!!

The following Monday at school lots of people were talking about it (that’s what we did back in the old days… talk about TV shows we watched over the weekend). LOTS of people thought the band was just too weird and “what where they singing about a lobster for?”. I thought they were totally captivating!

When I was in high school I was NOT all about babysitting. I wasn’t a baby person and I’m still not but I had these next door neighbor who had a son who slept well and they would have me come over about 8 after he was in bed. While I was babysitting I found they had a B-52s album (YES Vinyl) and I would listen to it and dance around their living room while I baby sat (that and fix his Rubik’s cube). Turns out, the guy was a GA Tech graduate and had seen the band perform up in Atlanta. He had 2 of the same album and he gave me one, it was simply titled The B-52’s.

I took this album home and listened to it on my brothers stereo. He started liking it and he went and bought their other album Wild Planet. I still know all the words to all their songs from both of those albums. Mesopotamia was an awesome album too.. ALL their stuff is awesome.

As long as I have been a fan of theirs, I never saw them live. They preformed locally about 5 years ago but it was on my son’s birthday so I didn’t get to go. This year, made a decision and took action. I heard a message in my personal development call about how we buy what we want and don’t buy what we should (consumerism…) and we do what we should and not what we want.. and that’s pretty much backward. To me that means people are trying to BUY life experiences rather than DO life experiences.

When I found out they were going to be at the Arizona Fall Frenzy I was IN! There was nothing that was going to stop me from finally seeing my favorite all time band! …and it didn’t! Last Friday, I was at the concert and saw them live and they were still incredible after 30+ years of performing.

This photo is from my phone… not the greatest but at least I snapped one.

The reason I fell in love with The B-52s and why they became my all time favorite band… simple.. they are fun and energetic! They don’t sound like everyone else (or anyone else). They are still fun and energetic, I could see and feel that they still love what they do. It’s not a total drag for them to perform… they still love their old stuff as much as their new stuff. They honor all their music.

What an accomplishment for them to hold on to their energy, to keep themselves invigorated even in the face of personal tragedy. I am inspired by them every time I hear their music. To see them live was huge for me. As a train in England goes down the tracks… there is a wire on top of the train that snatches energy from overhead currents as they connect along the route…. I snatched a good bit of energy from them as I listened to their music and watched them perform.

Sometimes you just have to do something you want.. make it non negotiable. Allow yourself to have a moment by fulfilling this want. Don’t let anything stand in your way.

THE B-52’s – Boucing Off The Satellites (1987)

Eles tiveram a sorte de ter seus discos lançados aqui quase simultaneamente – ao contrário de 98% de seus contemporâneos – e, por isso mesmo, tiveram o azar de virar sinônimo de “new wave”, o que foi responsável pela adoração cega de muitos e a execração preconceituosa de alguns. Para mim, nunca deixaram de ser hilariantes, descompromissados, hiperdançates e capazes de fazer a gente feliz por estar vivo num planeta rico em filmes de ficção científica barata, escavações arqueológicas perigosas, milk-shakes multicoloridos, perucas bufantes e passos de dança como o boogaloo, o “atum tímido” e a “aqua velva”.

Nestes três anos que se passaram desde o lançamento de Whammy!, tocaram no Rock in Rio e perderam o fundador e guitarrista Ricky Wilson – de câncer linfático, em 12 de outubro do ano passado. Quando isto aconteceu, este Bouncing Off… já estava quase pronto e é lançado agora sem nenhuma turnê promocional ou coisa que o valha. Ou seja, o futuro continua incerto.

Levando tudo isso em conta, é impossível ouvir o disco sem algumas pontadas de tristeza e luto – mesmo que ele seja absolutamente fiel às desvairadas peculiaridades do grupo.

O vocal aloprado da Cindy Wilson e Kate Pierson predomina mais que nos anteriores, a começar pelas faixas “Summer of Love“, “Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland” e “Wig“. O narrador e mestre-de-cerimônias Fred Schneider só aparece em “Detour Through Your Mind” e, daí em diante, não faz mais que pontas e figurações.

O som parece, ao mesmo tempo, mais eletrônico e suave que antes, loucura pouca, quase bobagem profissional.

Fonte:

YACHT has compiled a mixtape of songs that consciously and subconsciously inspired their awesome new album See Mysery Lights. The mixtape is being called Anthem of the Trinity, an allusion to their love for triangels, undoubtedly. You can buy the CD for $5 at States Rights Records. The tracklist is below.

They’ve also released all of the instrumental tracks from See Mystery Lights and the acapella for “Psychic City” so you can use them for karaoke, remix, or however you please. Download them all here.

Also, they just released the Psychic City single today digitally with remixes from Classixx, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, and Rory Phillips.

♫ Psychic City (Joe Goddard Remix)

Terry Riley – Anthem Of The Trinity
Outkast – I’ll Call Before I Come (Beat)
Sandii & the Sunsetz – Bongazuna (Beat)
Dinosaur L – Go Bang! (Walter Gibbons Mix)
♫ Talking Heads – Burning Down The House
♫ LCD Soundsystem – Us V Them
Nirvana – Negative Creep
Kathy Diamond – All Woman
Dinosaur L – Go Bang! (Francois Kevorkian Mix)
♫ Joy Divison – No Love Lost
Harry Nilsson – Jump Into The Fire
Syclops – Where’s Jason’s K
INXS – New Sensation
Brian Eno – Baby’s On Fire
Bad Brains – Attitude
♫ Black Randy and the Metrosquad – Loner With A Boner
Snoop Dogg (Feat. Pharell) – Drop It Like It’s Hot
Tears For Fears – Head Over Heels
Althea & Donna – Uptown Top Ranking
Sandii & the Sunsetz – Heat Scale – Words & Dances
T-Pain – I’m ‘n Luv (Wit a Stripper)
♫ The B-52’s – 52 Girls
White Rainbow – Sand Sifter Dreams Alive
Techmaster P.E.B. – Bass Computer (Intro)

There is no other band like the B-52s.  Unique in presentation, song style and diversity. The B-52s rocked Wolf Trap on Saturday night. The band played a nice mix of new material from their “Funplex” album and older hits. The highlights of the show were no doubt the highlights from yesteryear, including an encore comprised of “Planet Claire” and “Rock Lobster.”  The band sounded great. Watching Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson, Fred Schneider and Keith Strickland due their thing on stage is exhilarating. Can anyone tell me the name of the dance that Cindy is doing in this video? Love it.

Video by DC StyleSpot

Okay, I really dislike the song Propane Nightmares by Pendulum. It starts off and sounds like Muse (knights of cydonia, an awesome song) and then has a rift that sounds like a direct lift from Rock Lobster by the B-52’s. Rock lobster, seriously? Not a song I would think anyone trying to be cool, or even ironic, would sample….

The B-52’s should get their lawyers on that.

Both are 4 person bands. One band got it’s start in Athens, Georgia back in the late 1970’s. The other hails from Los Angeles, California. One band is known for it’s outrageous beehive hairdos, the other for it’s colorful clothing styles. One band has a lead singer who doesn’t sing, he uses a vocal style called “sprechgesang”. The other has a lead singer whose name is “will.i.am” who is a rapper. One band has 2 female leads who have sung successfully with other artists, the other has one female lead who is a very successful solo artist.

Truthfully, there no comparing the two bands other than this…they’re both odd in some way and both have songs that are inane and silly and have that uncanny ability to crawl into your brain and squirm around uncomfortably. And both have songs that lyrically are intellectually stunted.

For example, I give you lyrics from The B-52’s “Cosmic Thing”…

I was havin’ this out-of-body experience
Saw these cosmic beings
Everywhere I went up there, they were shakin’ their cosmic things
Like someone gave ya a wild goose, or a freight train with
A loose caboose

You better shake your… honeybuns! Shake your honeybuns!
Shake it till the butter melts, shake it till the butter melts
Shake that cosmic thing, shake that thing, shake it, ohhhh yeah!
Shake that thing all night long, shake it man you can’t go wrong
Don’t let it rest on the President’s desk, rock the house!

Got that? Okay…now the BEP. Here’s a snippet from their single called “Boom Boom Pow’”…

Here we go, here we go
Satellite radio
Y’all getting hit with (Boom boom)
Beats so big I’m steppin on leprechauns
Shitin’ on y’all you with the (Boom boom)
Shitin’ on y’all you with the (Boom boom)
Shitin’ on y’all you with the…
This beat be bumpin’ bumpin’
This beat go boom boom

Oooookay. ANY band that can drop the word “leprechauns” into a song has got a screw loose somewhere…right?

Now let’s look at some song titles. For the B-52’s, you have “Private Idaho”, “Loveshack”, “Deadbeat Club”, “Rock Lobster”. The BEP have titles like “Smells Like Funk”, “Let’s Get Retarded” and “Don’t Phunk With My Heart”.

As far as music that is not too deep but fun to have pumpin’ out of your stereo, I grew up hearing the sultry voice of Cindy Wilson & Kate Pierson singing about lobsters and places where we can get together, so I’d take The B-52’s over BEP. However, in today’s commercialized radio world, The Black Eyed Peas have a stronghold on the airwaves that is untouchable. I can’t turn on an FM pop station without hearing one of their songs! And that makes them one of the strongest pop bands out there today.

So which is it folks? The B-52’s? Or The Black Eyed Peas?

This should be interesting. But before you decide, allow me to leave you with more lyrical snippets from these bands. I find them to be both very thought provoking…

LYRICS ONE:
Space junk—laser bombs—ozone holes
Better put up my umbrella!
Giant stacks blowin’ smoke
Politicrits pushin’ dope

All I know—we’ve got to change what’s happening
Something good could happen
I feel light has got to come through—and I need it
Something big and lovely.

LYRICS TWO:
What you gonna do with all that junk?
All that junk inside your trunk?
I’m a get, get, get, get you drunk
Get you love drunk off my hump
My hump, my hump
My hump, my hump, my hump
My hump, my hump, my hump
My lovely little lumps
Check it out

Obviously…both have important social messages for our youth. Hmmmm…maybe one of  these bands isn’t as shallow as I thought…

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

Crosby, Stills, and Nash will perform on August 9. Photo from boston.com.

One of Pennsylvania’s largest summer music festivals opens its doors to tons of waiting fans today, offering three special performances by The Commodores, Martin Sexton, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Musikfest has been happening in downtown Bethlehem for the past twenty five years now. It has brought many large acts from all across the country to the smallish town in Pennsylvania.

This year, the festival will feature 300 performers, including 10 nightly headlining shows. The concerts will take place on fourteen different stages, eleven of which are free. (Free is good.)

Here’s a quick run through of some of the headliners. You can find information on the rest of the bands performing on the lineup website. I would love to list them all for you, but then this post would never end.

• The Commodores
• Chris Isaak/The Wallflowers
• Yes with special guest Asia
• David Cook with Green River Ordinance
• Third Eye Blind with Matt Nathanson
• The B-52s/Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
• Puddle of Mudd with special guest Stasis
• Pat Benetar & Blondie with The Donnas
• George Thorogood and the Destroyers with Jonny Lang
• Crosby, Stills & Nash

You can see that the festival offers something for everyone. The musical tastes being provided are certainly eclectic to say the least. Each headliner (or two) will be performing one of the nine nights the festival runs.

It should be noted that the headliners cost some money. You can find tickets for each show here. But if you don’t feel like spending the money, there are still tons of free performers spread out all over Bethlehem. It might be quite nice to just walk around and take in the sights and sounds. There are also craft, art, and food vendors all over the place, too.

The whole town pretty much turns into one big music celebration. I recommend you join in the fun!

Get the low down at Musikfest.org.

Every five years, I always spend a day or two mainlining The Rezillos. (It happened last week.) Can’t help myself. They’re like The Cramps meet The B-52s meet Thunderbirds. Guess that’s why NME got me to write about so many psychobilly records a few years later… it was in my blood.

To celebrate the milestone, Rhino will spotlight songs originally issued on 45 by offering them as RHINO DIGITAL 45s, bundled with their original B-sides and artwork. Original picture sleeve art will be included when available and original label art will be used for all others. iTunes will feature a total of 60 digital 45s, including six exclusives. These will be featured in iTunes Digital 45, which showcases these new digital bundles inside the iTunes store. Among the iTunes exclusives are several singles featuring B-sides making their digital debut including “Take It Easy”/“Get You In The Mood” by the Eagles, “Kiss”/“Love Or Money” by Prince & The Revolution, and “Whip It”/“Turn Around” by Devo. The remaining 54 singles will be available at all digital retails outlets. Each following month, Rhino will release a new batch of 25 digital 45s to all partners. For more information, please visit www.rhino.com/Digital45.

The first group of RHINO DIGITAL 45s features a total of 31 tracks making their digital debut including Jackson Browne’s “The Crow On The Cradle” (B-side of “Somebody’s Baby”), Morrissey’s “I Know Very Well How I Got My Name” (B-side of “Suedehead”), and James Taylor’s “I Can Dream Of You” (b-side of “Shower The People). Other digital debut highlights include tracks from The Cars, Talking Heads, and Pretenders as well as single edits, radio mixes, and live versions from The B-52s, Deep Purple, The Doors, Faith No More, and Yes.   RHINO DIGITAL 45s will be available from all DSPs for list prices of $1.49 and $1.99. Downloads from iTunes will include a bonus PDF containing the original picture sleeve or label art.

The RHINO DIGITAL 45 marks the return of the B-side. With the “plug side” of a single the focus of a record label’s attention, its reverse allowed artists a chance to stretch their creative legs. B-sides were an opportunity to show listeners who only knew the hit that a band had more than one trick up its sleeves (Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” and The Doobie Brothers’ “Black Water,” among others, were originally issued as B-sides). And while most hits also appear on artists’ albums, the “non-LP B-side” was often unavailable to all but the most loyal fans and hardcore collectors, until now.

RHINO DIGITAL 45
First 60 Singles

a-ha                           “Take On Me”/“Love Is Reason”* ^#
The B-52’s                                                 “Love Shack”(edit)†/“Channel Z”*
The Blues Brothers                                     “Soul Man”/“Excusez Moi Mon Cherie”*†
Jackson Browne                                          “Somebody’s Baby”/“The Crow On The Cradle”†*
The Cars                                                    “Let’s Go”/“That’s It”†
Chicago                                                      “You’re The Inspiration”/“Once In A Lifetime”
Alice Cooper                                               “School’s Out”/“Gutter Cat Vs. The Jets”*
Collective Soul                                            “Shine”(radio edit)†/“Breathe”
Crosby, Stills & Nash                                  “Southern Cross”/“Into The Darkness”*
The Cure                                                    “Just Like Heaven”/“Breathe”* ^#
Damn Yankees                                           “High Enough”†/“Piledriver”
Deep Purple                                                “Smoke On The Water”/“Smoke On The Water”(edit)†
Devo                                                          “Whip It”/“Turn Around”† ^#
Doobie Brothers                                          “What A Fool Believes”/“Don’t Stop To Watch The Wheels”*
The Doors                                                  “Light My Fire”†/“Crystal Ship”
The Dream Academy                                  “Life In A Northern Town”/“Test Tape No. 3”†*
Eagles                                                        “Take It Easy”/“Get You In The Mood”† ^#
Eagles                                                        “Hotel California”/“Pretty Maids All In A Row”
En Vogue                                                   “Free Your Mind”†/“Just Can’t Stay Away”†
Erasure                                                       “A Little Respect”/“Like Zsa Zsa Zsa Gabor”†*
Faith No More                                            “Epic”(radio remix Edit)†“Edge Of The World”
Foreigner                                                    “Urgent”/“Girl On The Moon”*
Aretha Franklin                                           “Respect”/“Dr. Feelgood”
Genesis                                                       “In Too Deep”/“I’d Rather Be You”*
Hootie & The Blowfish                                “Let Her Cry” (radio edit)†/“Hold My Hand” (radio edit)
Hootie & The Blowfish                                “Time”/“Only Wanna Be With You”
INXS                                                          “What You Need”/“Sweet As Sin”†*
Iron Butterfly                                              “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”/“Iron Butterfly Theme”
Howard Jones                                             “Things Can Only Get Better”/“Why Look For The Key”†*
KC & The Sunshine Band                           “That’s The Way (I Like It)”/“What Makes You Happy”
Los Lobos                                                   “La Bamba”/“Charlena”*
Steve Martin and The Toot Uncommons       “King Tut”/“Sally Goodin”/“Hoedown At Alice’s”*
Edwin McCain                                            “I’ll Be”/“Grind Me In The Gears”†
Bette Midler                                                “From A Distance”/“One More Round”
The Monkees                                              “Daydream Believer”/“Goin’ Down”*
Morrissey                                                   “Suedehead”/“I Know Very Well How I Got My Name”†*
Orleans                                                       “Still The One”/“Siam Sam”
Wilson Pickett                                             “Mustang Sally”/“Three Time Loser”
Pretenders                                                  “Louie Louie”/“In The Sticks”†*
Prince & The Revolution                             “Kiss”/“Love Or Money”†* ^#
Ratt                                                            “Round And Round”/“The Morning After”*
Otis Redding                                               “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”/“Sweet Lorene” ^#
The Replacements                                       “Can’t Hardly Wait”/“Cool Water”*
Rufus & Chaka Khan                                  “Ain’t Nobody”/“Sweet Thing”(live)
Sam & Dave                                               “Soul Man”/“May I Baby”
Duncan Sheik                                              “Barely Breathing”/“Wishful Thinking”
Sister Sledge                                               “We Are Family”/“Easier To Love”†
Skid Row                                                    “Youth Gone Wild”/“Sweet Little Sister”*
Rod Stewart                                                “Forever Young”/“Days Of Rage”* ^#
Sugarhill Gang                                             “Apache”/“Rapper’s Delight”
T.Rex                                                         “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”/“Raw Ramp”
Talking Heads                                             “Take Me To The River”(edit)†/“Thank You For Sending Me An Angel”*
Talking Heads                                             “And She Was”/“And She Was” (dub version)† ^#
James Taylor                                              “Shower The People”(edit)†/“I Can Dream Of You”†
Travis Tritt                                                  “T-R-O-U-B-L-E”/“Leave My Girl Alone”
Van Halen                                                  “Jump”/“House Of Pain”*
X                                                                “Wild Thing”†/“Devil Doll”†
X                                                                “4th Of July”/“Positively 4th Street”†*
Yes                                                             “Roundabout”(single edit)†/“Long Distance Runaround”
Dwight Yoakam                                          “Guitars, Cadillacs”/“I’ll Be Gone”

†Available digitally for first time
*Includes Original Picture Sleeve Art
^#iTunes exclusive

Submitted by Rhino Records