Monday, July 31, 2006

I Know What It's LIke To Be Dead

There's a great free e-book available from Ray Newman called Abracadabra! which chronicles the making of The Beatles Revolver album. I found the book interesting and well-written. It does a good job of highlighting the influences around The Beatles - George's Indian music, John's & George's experimentation with LSD, Paul's avant-garde period and whatever it was Ringo was up to at the time.

I also found reference in the book to a great web site which catalogs all the various different song versions that were released.

At 100 pages it is a quick and interesting read. Check it out.

You and I Have Memories

Lennon/McCartney news:

Two unreleased John Lennon tracks will be featured on the soundtrack to The US vs. John Lennon and will be released in September. Attica State and an instrumental version of How Do You Sleep don't blow me away though. The movie, on the other hand, sounds very interesting.

Paul McCartney releases his fourth classical CD on the same day the Lennon soundtrack comes out (September 26: cue stupid news stories about whose release will do better). I'd much rather hear his inevitable nasty divorce CD. An angry McCartney would be awesome.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Pray For The Selfish

Roger Manning of Jellyfish Fame Album
The US version of Roger Joseph Manning's solo debut The Land of Pure Imagination is now available through iTunes. If like me you purchased the Japanese import "Solid State Warrior", it's basically the same, but has three additional tracks - Pray For The Many, In The Name of Romance and Appleby.

Why they changed the name of the album and the cover art, I'll never know. "Solid State Warrior" is a perfectly good name and the cover was fine. Damn marketing people.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Just Hit Me With The Truth

This really isn't what I would consider legitimate music news, but it was too funny not to post - Lance Bass is gay. The post over at The Superficial is absolutely hilarious, especially the part about trying to not act gay.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

C'mon C'mon C'mon C'mon C'mon...

Speaking of Matthew Sweet, he and Susanna Hoffs have posted on theirspace a couple non-album tracks from the same recording sessions as their covers album. Check out Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, one of my all-time favorite Beatles tunes! Love it.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

ROCK BOTTOM!

New Matthew Sweet album Rock Bottom is coming out "Fall 2006/Spring 2007" (?curious?). Check out awesome previews at hisspace. Ignore the ridiculously cheesy voiceover. It almost ruined it for me. His management totally sucks. Anyway, focus on the music and you'll hear it sounds like classic Sweet (Girlfriend/Altered Beast era). It's very guitar-heavy, but the melodies and harmonies are definitely there. Awesome awesome awesome. This is the only thing that could make me smile two days before the bar exam -- this shit made my weekend!

Friday, July 21, 2006

Glad You Made It, Welcome To The Farm


Just got back from the Guster concert here in Atlanta at Chastain Park. Wow. Awesome concert. They played all the classics, the new stuff and everything in between. The highlight of the night was in the middle of the set when they played Airport Song. In-blanking-credible. Absolutely hypnotic and mind-blowing. Chastain is a great place to see concerts as it is an outdoor venue and you can bring in your favorite beverages. Nothing like seeing Guster with a good buzz. Me Gusta Guster!




Thursday, July 20, 2006

Boycott Chili's


The mediocre restaurant chain Chili's is using Bleu's Get Up to sell hamburgers. I hate it when advertising uses good music to sell crap.

Although if it gives Bleu some exposure that might be alright. If you haven't checked out Redhead yet, you better get to it.

Come to think of it, the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich is really yummy. Mmmmm....buffalo....




Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Both Sides of Me, Both Sides of Me

New dada tunes on theirspace: A Friend of Pat Robertson and 7.1 Stereo. Both are pretty representative of dada's sound. Not bad. New album coming sometime in the future. Hopefully it's better than their last, which was quite disappointing. I think I listened to it once. Also, they're touring soon. I highly recommend their live shows. They're all incredible musicians and know how to do it right.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Look Around and Choose Your Own Ground

Pink Floyd PulseAnybody else think the art for Pink Floyd's new DVD Pulse is the lamest Floyd art yet? I thought Division Bell was bad, but this? Yikes.

The DVD came out last Tuesday and features, for the first time, a released live performance of Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety.

Dead Ends

For Dirty Pop: new Chad Vangaalen courtesy of stereogum.

Previously on too poppy...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Got Your Tape and It Changed My Mind

Despite the focus on a solo album, various side projects, and books, Semisonic still exists. In the Midwest and looking for something to do Friday night? Check out Semisonic live:

In case you haven't already heard, this Friday night, July 14th,the band takes
the stage at the corner of Washington and Hennepin Avenues to play an outdoor
concert in downtown Minneapolis.

Also of note, Dan Wilson's solo album Free Life is scheduled to be released early next year. Why the wait? Well, Dan's been a busy man writing songs with the Dixie Chicks and producing other artists. I guess one smash hit does not a living make. Hear new tunes on hisspace.

All These Days Gone By

It only took eight years, but Sean Lennon is releasing the follow-up to Into the Sun on September 26. Stereogum has more details, a video, and a download of Home. You can also hear new tunes on hisspace.

It's a bit creepy to see Lennon. He's exactly what you'd expect him to look like. Even Conan couldn't do it better. His music, though, doesn't quite live up to that legacy. His squeaky voice doesn't have quite the conviction his father's did. On the other hand, he doesn't quite suck either. Thankfully his music is more influenced by Dad than Mom.

Not much going on with John's second favorite son (that'd be Julian Lennon, Mr. Much Too Late For Goodbyes). He's notoriously slow in getting new music released. His last one, Photograph Smile, was a nice listen. Got to see him live in Chicago when he toured to support it and it was a fun show. It was just amazing to see the Lennon bloodline performing, particularly when he has his own talents. Hopefully Jules will be releasing new stuff soon. In the meantime, Sean will do.

Nothing to Say When There's Nothing to Do

Interpol is working on its third album, but it won't be released until next year. Liked the first two. Great ping-pong-playing soundtracks.

You Cried for the Moon

Syd Barrett: 1946-2006 (via)

In honor, download his Octopus and Pink Floyd's Bike at fluxblog.

Monday, July 10, 2006

When You Were Young

Check out 40 seconds of the new Killers tune. With only 40 seconds, I will refrain from judging (unlike the commentators on stereogum who have completely dismissed the WHOLE ALBUM based on these 40 seconds and previous comments Killers' frontman Brandon Flowers has made about how great the album is - because personally I would prefer an artist who feels shitty about his music). I will say I'm looking forward to hearing more.

MP3 preview: The Killers - When You Were Young (via)

UPDATE: Billboard has more details about the single and the album to be released in September and October respectively.

Friday, July 07, 2006

I've Never Been Too Good With Names But I Remember Faces

Looks like Evan Dando has reformed the Lemonheads. Self-titled CD will be released September 26 and watch for tour dates. I've always been a moderate fan, but the tunes never did much for me other than being ridiculously catchy, which is something. The pointless cover of a Garmon & Sifunkel classic didn't help matters. We'll see if Mr. Dando can create music that lasts longer than a toothache.

It's a Shame About Ray is a classic, though.