While actress Milla Jovovich may be trying to draw in your attention with talk of extraterrestrial owls and an imminent fear of the fourth kind, there’s a phenomenon that has been slowly gaining momentum in the music world….

Bands and musicians have been switching members and pairing up like Xenon Octa-Flouride (XeF8) would, if it ever is going to be invented (thanks Wikipedia!). In layman’s terms, we’ve been getting a lot of new supergroups, side projects, and collaborations – some that could have been foreseen, and others that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

The Almanac Singers seen here with Bess Hawes, Arthur Stern and Sis Cunningham

Now, the idea of a supergroup is not a recent innovation by any stretch of the imagination – the supergroup goes all the way back to the Almanac Singers - a combination of Millard Lampell, Lee Hayes, Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie that got its start in 1940. From the 60’s until today, we have been given plenty more supergroups, such as in 1969 which brought us both The Plastic Ono Band (which included the likes of Eric Clapton, both George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Alan White – just to name a few) as well as Blind Faith (which also featured Mr. Clapton, but had Ginger Baker, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech to boot). 1988 brought us the Traveling Wilburys, which was the tour de force of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. And although they Wilburys only stuck together for about a year after Orbison’s death, that cosmic aligning is something that has not met it’s match… yet.

The Monsters of Folk

Among the recent crop of supergroups is a group I mentioned last week – The Monsters of Folk, which consists of folk songsters Connor Oberst and  Mike Mogis from Bright Eyes, M. Ward of She & Him, and Jim James from My Morning Jacket. They’ve been associated under the Monsters name since 2004, but have all been so busy with their respective main attractions that they weren’t able to release their self-titled first album until this year. You’ve definitely heard their track “Say Please” on the Peak – and both M. Ward and Connor Oberst gave free concerts in NYC this summer!

Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar

Moving down the line from most folky to least, next up is the recent pairing of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard with Jay Farrar, member of Uncle Tupelo and frontman for Son Volt, the two bands that he played with throughout the 90’s before he launched his solo career in 2001. Gibbard and Farrar first got together in 2007 to record the soundtrack for One Fast Move and I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur. Both the movie and the album came out on October 20th, the day before the 40th anniversary of the prolific author’s death. You can see the music video for “San Fransisco”, the last track on the album, here. And you can expect to see more from them in the future.

Taking a detour into the realm of electronica, at the end of September, Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead, slipped this little surprise into his blog:

Thom Yorke and Flea

Of course, those shows were sold out in 20 minutes. Flea, as you know, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers Bassist – and he seemed to be ecstatic to be on stage with Yorke, playing cuts from Yorke’s solo album The Eraser (2006). There hasn’t been a follow-up to the October concerts, but that’s something you should keep an eye out for as well.

Jack White and Alison Mosshart sharing the mike at Glastonbury this year

Next up come two really driving groups. First is The Dead Weather, whose song “Hang You Up From the Heavens” I featured in my first week of blog-writing. The Dead Weather was formed by Jack White who’s been extremely active – leaping from the White Stripes, to the Raconteurs, to the recent release of “It Might Get Loud” – a documentary featuring White, The Edge, and Jimmy Page. The band also features Alison Mosshart of the Kills on lead vocals, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence, who played with White in the Raconteurs. And to sweeten the deal, they just announced a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 17th! Tickets for that are going on Sale this friday, so get ‘em quick.

The "Them Crooked Vultures" teaser photo from earlier this fall

And finally, we come to Them Crooked Vultures, or TCV as they call themselves. TCV is big news. On drums is Dave Grohl, from Nirvana and the Foo Fighters. On vocals and guitar is Josh Homme, from the Queens of the Stone Age. The kicker is that John Paul Jones comes soaring in on bass. They’ve got a really great sound, full and rocking, but what remains to be seen is whether TCV will be able to stay afloat once their star power has worn off. Their self-titled first record is due out on Sony in a week, which should be an insta-grab for all hard rock fans. But for now, check out the full album on the band’s website!

So, I apologize about all the name dropping – it’s not something I routinely do. If you think a supergroup has been left out, please let me know. Or if you feel the need to justify the Tinted Windows‘ existence, by all means, please try. But if you do, I’ll kindly remind you that their lead singer is from Hanson, and we’ll go our separate ways. Wikipedia to the rescue once again!

——————————–

Peak Keyword: MMBOP

Bow down to the master.

Here’s some good news for you. There’s a brand spanking new song from Thom Yorke of the almighty Radiohead making its way through the hallowed internets. It’s called Hearing Damage and it’s just lovely. The bad news…? It’s on the soundtrack for the upcoming film New Moon aka the next chapter of the Twilight series. For those of us who liked our vampires a little more scary and less glossy, I understand and empathise. The bad news aside…the song more than makes up for it.

Less experimental than his work on the underrated The Eraser record and a lot more accessible, Yorke goes easy on us and gives us some dark electronic pop that should render the rest of the soundtrack pointless. It’s not quite the head-bopper that Idioteque was but it’s close and one could say that this is more of a mind-bender. I had to play it a couple of times to allow myself to become immersed in the beauty of this track.

If Radiohead of the last ten years has turned you off then you might want to keep it moving but if you’ve found yourself to be continually pleased and inspired by the evolution of the most influential bands of the last twenty years and their resident genius-in-chief then turn this one up…and try to forget what movie soundtrack it’s aligned with.

Thom Yorke on MySpace

“Hearing Damage” by Thom Yorke taken from the forthcoming motion picture soundtrack “New Moon”

Después del éxito de ‘In Rainbows’, el líder de la Radiohead, Thom Yorke, ha decidido darse un espacio con la agrupación para sumergirse en sus proyectos personales.

A principios de octubre el músico británico ofreció tan sólo tres tocadas en Los Ángeles, California, para presentar a un pequeño -y casi selecto- público su proyecto de solista.

En esta fase fuera de Radiohead, le acompañan Flea, bajista de Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker, baterista que ha colaborado con R.E.M., el multi-instrumentalista Mauro Refosco y el productos Nigel Godrich.

Como recordaremos ésta no es la primera vez que Yorke trabaja independiente de Radiohead, ya que en el 2007 editó un álbum como solista titulado “The Eraser”, el cual tuvo buena aceptación.

De hecho en las presentaciones que tuvo en Los Ángeles el repertorio estuvo compuesto en su mayoría por canciones de “The Eraser”.

También aprovechó para decirle a su audiencia que el próximo año regresaría – no especificó si con un disco o más presentaciones- con este proyecto en solitario acompañado por los músicos mencionados anteriormente.

Les dejamos este video donde pueden ver un poco de lo que presentó Thom Yorke en Los Ángeles, que sin duda conserva el sello de todo lo que ha hecho con Radiohead.

.

DSCN0349, originally uploaded by MartinWorster.

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke plays with Flea, Nigel Godrich and Mauro Refosco play tracks from the Eraser album at the Orpheum in Los Angeles.

No flash allowed or big cameras so afraid the picture quality’s a bit flaky..!

Semana passada contei que Thom Yorke montou uma super banda para acompanha-lo em seu trabalho solo, na sexta-feira (2/10) o grupo fez sua grande estreia. A banda é formada pelo baixista Flea, do Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Waronker na bateria, pelo produtor Nigel Godrich e pelo multiinstrumentista brasileiro Mauro Refosco.

O show aconteceu em Los Angeles e plateia estava recheada de famosos segundo o NME.com, como a linda atriz Ellen Page e pela vocalista do Sonic Youth, Kim Gordon. Yorke tocou  faixas do álbum “The Eraser“e músicas inéditas, entre elas “Felling pulled apart by horses” e claro músicas de sua banda o Radiohead, foram tocadas músicas como “Lotus Flower”, o lado B “Paperbag Writer“.

Questo è solo un assaggio di quello che è stata capace di fare la nuova band di Thom Yorke, al suo esordio due sere fa all’Echoplex di Los Angeles. Un gruppo messo in piedi per divertirsi, a detta dello stesso Thom. Ma il risultato è davvero sorprendente, al di là delle più rosee aspettative. E il frontman dei Radiohead è apparso in forma come non mai.

I cinque – che oltre al folletto di Oxford sono il fido Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Mauro Refosco e il bassista dei Red Hot Chili Peppers Flea – hanno arrangiato i pezzi di The Eraser come meglio non si poteva, trasformando i beat elettronici del disco in musica in carne e ossa. Non è mancato neanche il nuovo singolo Feeling pulled apart by horses.

Flea sembra davvero a suo agio al fianco di Thom, i due sembrano abituati a condividere il palco da anni. La band ha riservato anche diverse sorprese, tra cui qualche brano inedito come l’ottima Judge, jury and executioner. Peccato che l’esperimento duri solo tre date. A meno che Yorke non ci ripensi e trasformi questa bella scampagnata in qualcosa di più serio.

Lo scorso 2 ottobre Thom Yorke e la nuova band che ha messo su con Flea dei RHCP e Nigel Godrich per suonare dal vivo i suoi pezzi solisti si sono esibiti a Los Angeles (come vi avevamo raccontato qui). Dopo aver suonato The Eraser, l’album del solo debut per il cantante dei Radiohead, Yorke ha fatto ascoltare alla platea 4 canzoni nuove di zecca: Open the Floodgates, Lotus Flower, Skirting on the Surface e Judge, Jury, Executioner.

Dopodiché, il ruppo è tornato sul palco per chiudere la scaletta con i nuovissimi Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses e The Hollow Heart, contenuti nel 12” appena uscito. Di seguito vi proponiamo 3 video di altrettanti inediti proposto da Thom a L.A. (via Pitchfork).

So I am sure you have heard about Thom Yorke’s new super band…the band that shall not be named!  Just kidding.  There is not solid name yet for the band.  Anyway, it is kinda super-band because there are other famous musicians…including Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Well, I guess they are making their debut early because it has been announced that the band is making an early debut in L.A. at the Echoplex.  Yorke has explained that is most likely to be chaos.  That it is going to be more like a live rehearsal.  Shit.  Sounds awesome to me.

Here is what he said:

so yes that band thats doesnt really have a name that im working with at the moment??????
have decided to do a warm-up show on Friday Oct 2nd around 9pm at the Echoplex in Los Angeles
Its not that big, it’ll be total chaos and its kind of a rehearsal but .. if you are near by..
link to get tickets.
hope you get lucky with it.
so ain’t no point hanging around if u dont im afraid

[direktlink]

album: the eraser
year: 2006

[via kfmw.blog]

Photography by Anthony Kurtz

Music: Thom Yorke // The Eraser

-black girl.

Thom Yorke has announced via the Radiohead blog Dead Air Space that he’s written two new songs. The first is titled FeelingPulledApartbyHorses, written and played by him and band-mate Johnny Greenwood, a reworking of a tune dating back to around 2001, the year Radiohead released Amnesiac. The second song is The Hollow Earth, a revised song from The Eraser Sessions. These songs are produced by regular Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich, and will be available as a 12″ single or as a free download on 21st September, with commercial downloads appearing on 6th October.

A Radiohead énekese, aki ‘The Eraser’ címmel már jelentetett meg saját nagylemezt is (amelynek megnevezésekor kategorikusan kerülte a „szólóalbum” kifejezést), ‘Apart By Horses’ és ‘The Hollow Earth’ című dalait jelenteti meg vinylen. A lemez limitált példányszámban kerül piacra – Amerikában és Európában négy-négyezer példány összesen.

-mr2-

Thom Yorke, you never fail to impress me. This was the first time I heard this track-today. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Thank you.

Thom Yorke took the stage early Sunday morning this week for his 1st solo performance since the release of 2006’s The Eraser.  The set consisted of several tracks from the Radiohead frontman’s solo album as well as several Radiohead songs as well.  Among the tracks performed was a new song titled “The Present Tense.”  Whether the new track is a Radiohead song or a Thom Yorke is still unknown, but I’ll take anything from one of the most interesting and stimulating musicians of our generation.

Here is a high-quality video of “The Present Tense”:

Check out these other great videos from the performance:

“The Eraser” – High Quality

“Atoms for Peace” – High Definition

“Harrowdown Hill” – High Quality

“Everything In Its Right Place” – High Definition

“Black Swan” – Awesome acoustic rendition.  Watch for Thom to start singing into his guitar:

“Videotape” – High Quality

“There There” – High Definition

“True Love Waits” – High Quality

Full Setlist:

“The Eraser”

“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”

“Atoms for Peace”

“Harrowdown Hill”

“Follow Me Around”

“Everything In Its Right Place”

“The Present Tense”

“Cymbal Rush”

“Black Swan”

“Videotape”

“There There”

“True Love Waits”

Salut à toutes, tous,

Cela fait plusieurs mois que je n’ai pas écrit sur le blog mais l’écoute de nouveaux morceaux de Thom Yorke, chanteur, guitariste, pianiste, et tête pensante de Radiohead, me redonne l’envie d’écrire. Du moins l’envie de faire partager quelques très belles mélodies.

Cette année a été remplie de beaucoup de « sons » sur mon lecteur mp3 et j’ai toujours gardé parmi mes playlists « In Rainbows » (dernier album de RH) et « The Eraser » (projet solo de Thom Yorke) que je redécouvre presque à l’infini.

Cela fait plus de dix ans que j’écoute ce groupe et il me fascine toujours autant.

Je pense que je suis un drogué de leur musique et reste donc constamment à l’affût de tout nouveau son, projet ou album.

Ca tombe bien puisque cette dernière semaine m’a permis de découvrir trois nouveaux morceaux parmi lesquels

• Un remix de « Gazzillion ear », titre paru sur le dernier album du rappeur DOOM « Born like this » paru cette année.

Je trouve que l’original est un morceau de rap assez classique dont le remix en transforme totalement l’ambiance. L’instru est beaucoup plus sombre et se couple à la voix de Thom Yorke qui me fait penser à un fantôme errant dans une maison hantée. Ajoutez à cela le flow de DOOM et vous obtenez un très bon morceau bien dark, parfait pour une escapade nocturne…dans les couloirs du métro.

• Le deuxième titre n’est pas encore paru dans le public mais sortira sur une compilation en septembre : «  Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy ».

Il s’agit d’une reprise d’une chanson de Marc Mulcahy, leader de Miracle Legion.

Le morceau s’appelle « All for the best » et se passe de tout commentaire sauf qu’il est accompagné de son frère Andy, ex Unbelievable Truth.

• Enfin, le dernier titre a été écrit et composé par Thom Yorke et joué par ce dernier lors du Latitude Festival en Angleterre ce 19 juillet.

C’est la première fois que le leader de RH se produisait en solo afin d’interpréter les morceau de The Eraser et son set s’est accompagné de quelques surprises parmi lesquelles cet inédit : « The Present Tense ».

Toutes ces compositions me laissent penser que Thom Yorke reste un tête chercheuse, aux goûts éclectiques et dont la voix reste aussi limpide à 40 qu’à 20 ans. De bonne augure pour la suite…

Just listen to this and enjoy.

 eutow++

thom yorke played a solo show at the latitude festival earlier today. he played a 12 song set including songs from his eraser album. plus, he debuted a new song, which before playing said, “this is a new song, so you know- go for a piss.”

the new song is called “the present tense.” no word yet on a new album from thom, but radiohead does have another one in the works. stay tuned for updates.

“the present tense”

the eraser is one of my all time favorite albums so if you don’t have it yet, do yourself a favor and get it.

set list (with a few quotes from thom):

1. The Eraser
2. Weird Fishes/Argpeggi
3. Atoms For Peace
4. Harrowdown Hill (at the end of the song: “I’ll Be Your Bitch”)
5. Follow Me Around (”One that’s on the shelf and never made it off. Did you like that? Good! It’s on YouTube now”)
6. Everything In Its Right Place
7. The Present Tense (”A New song, so you know, go for a piss”)
8. Cymbal Rush
9. Black Swan (Not too confident about his guitar loops: “It’ll be a miracle if this works”
10. Videotape

Encore:
11. There There (”Anyone see Grace Jones? I want those costume changes. G-string. Is that a good idea?”)
12. True Love Waits (”This is another song that fell off the shelf once…and it’s still there”)

full article here via ateaseweb.com

Can you guess which one WASN'T hit with the ugly tree?

The track is a cover of Miracle Legion’s “All For The Best”. The track definetly sounds like Thom Yorke… more like The Eraser than In Rainbows. Lots of skipping beats, warbly echoing vocals, falsettos, and lots of dark corners. Something new: duets! This time with none other than Andy Yorke. Yes, Thom Yorke has a brother. A great fuzzy guitar riff reminiscent of a slowed down Bodysnatchers. The song is part of a compilation album mourning the death of Mark Mulcahy’s wife. He’s the leader of Miracle Legion and Polaris (who wrote the theme for Pete & Pete). The song can be found here along with more details.

Tormorrow, Olivier Girardot will give a talk at the RMLL on project “Eraser” for OpenOffice Impress, project part of EducOO.
It was about adding erasing features to OpenOffice Impress!

For more information, you can check this few links:

• RTFB
• RMLL

Don’t hesitate to go and see him! The talk will be in english.

Well friends, the cover project was to do a side one, track one of a Radiohead song. I took a few liberties perhaps in covering the title track from Thom Yorke’s solo album, The Eraser. It’s not perfect, but a good start. Let me know what you think.

The Eraser

Thom Yorke is easily one the greatest musical minds alive and his album The Eraser is probably my favorite eletronica album. Thom takes seemingly unrelated phrases and weaves a lyrical poem that (for me) rival some of the greatest literature ever written. No where his craftsmanship more apparent than on the song Analyse. I remember this song being one of the first from The Eraser that I really clicked with, so when I logged onto Youtube I was pleasantly surprised to see there was a live performance of the song. When I tell you my jaw dropped when the piano keys started I am far from exaggerating. I honestly did think this song could be any better for me and then I hear it like this – just Thom and a piano.

I will never listen to the album version the same again.

Because of sheer guitar playing awesomeness here is a link to Thom playing Clocks.

The best CD covers grab buyers’ attention at CD stores while capturing the feel that the musicians are portraying.

Smashing Magazine put out an article called “100 Obscure and Remarkable CD Covers”.    It not only contained new artwork, but some remarkable old CD covers, as well.    I went through the list and pulled out my favorites – both artistically and musically.

The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute (2005)
This CD cover draws some curiosity.  Listen to the album, and it may make sense to you.  The music rocks from all direction – speed, complexity and texture are its noteworthy attributes.

Thom Yorke – The Eraser (2006)
Simple design catches your eye.   Great solo album by Thom Yorke of Radiohead.   This album actually is one of the main inspirations for my current solo project.

The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
This is a classic and one of the many great Beatles records.   I can’t imagine being without Photoshop to make this cover.

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
I love the visual for the “Pink Robot”.   The music at parts is quite out there, just like this record cover.   I’ve been obsessed with this album for the longest time, it never gets old.  It is one of the top albums of all time.

King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
Cool street art, yet a quite disturbing cover.   Great album.

Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
This cover has a nice vintage look.   If you actually have the CD, it is made out of cardstock paper, which adds to the feel of the album artwork.   Honestly, it took me several months to actually ‘get’ this album.   But when I did, I realized how fantastic this album is.

Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
The cover represents the record very well – technology in modern life.   Top 5 records of all time, I’m sure you’ve heard most of these songs.

Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
Colorful cover… good match to the album name.  With Radiohead being my favorite band, I’m glad to see them on this list more than once.   Make sure to purchase this record if you haven’t already.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Another classic and top favorite on my list.   The Smashing Pumpkins did a great job with what would be ‘branding’ on this record.   Their album artwork, music videos, DVDs, all followed this vintage fantasy very well.


The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – It’s Blitz (2009)
I’m not quite sure if this was photoshopped or real photography, but this cover is just cool.    The album is pretty impressive as well.   This was added to my music collection recently and it rocks, even more so than their previous record, Show Your Bones.

Check out the rest of the 100 Obscure and Remarkable CD covers at the URL below.   If you have any favorite album covers, I’d love to hear what they are.

100 Obscure and Remarkable CD Covers [Smashing Magazine]

Other URLs to check out:

35 Beautiful Music Album Covers [Smashing Magazine]
Billboard Top 40 Design Showcase [Smashing Magazine]

Do you have any favorite CD covers not listed here?  Please share!

JG Ballard died today, aged 78. 

There was so much in Ballard’s writing that I loved, and will continue to love. Ballard’s High Rise is one of my favourite novels, it is one of the few books I’ve ever read that elicited a physical response in me. Ballard’s words made me dizzy, the world he created left me in a constant state of vertigo.

If it weren’t for Ballard I don’t think I would appreciate the concept of dystopia in literature. His writing was prescient, his ideas almost a forewarning to coming generations on the dangers facing society, like a science fiction Orwell. 

The Guardian has more here, and here. 

I read that Thom Yorke was a fan so in Ballard’s honour here’s Harrowdown Hill, a song stuck on repeat a casa mia these days.